From Philly.com
In a landmark case being watched closely by other states, New Jersey made a final appeal Wednesday to be able to offer wagering on pro and college sports.
And lawyers for the four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA reiterated their position why New Jersey should be forbidden to do so.
The two sides appeared in a packed courtroom for a 11/2-hour session before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. The three-member panel hearing arguments consisted of Judges Julio Fuentes, D. Michael Fisher, and Thomas Vanaskie.
“The leagues have not, and cannot, prove that controlling sports gambling and regulating it – which is already taking place in New Jersey and throughout the United States illegally under cover of the black market – that regulation of that activity will somehow hurt the leagues,” said lawyer Ted Olson, representing New Jersey, Gov. Christie, and the state Division of Gaming Enforcement. “They have not proven that. They cannot prove that.”
New Jersey wants to join the four states currently permitted under federal law to offer some form of sports betting.
The NFL, Major League Baseball, the NHL, the NBA, the NCAA, and the Justice Department, represented by lawyers Paul Clement and Paul Fishman, oppose expanding the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which limits sports betting to Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and Delaware, with Nevada having by far the most freedom.
“New Jersey’s sports-wagering law is flatly inconsistent with PASPA,” Clement said. “Unlike Delaware . . . New Jersey has no real theory on how its [sports betting] law could be reconciled with PASPA. Accordingly, New Jersey has little choice but make a direct assault on PASPA.”
