NJ.com – The game clock is running out on New Jersey’s attempt to legalize sports betting at casinos and horse racing tracks — something supporters say could save those struggling industries and generate hundreds of millions of tax dollars for the state.
After losing three times in federal court to the NCAA and the nation’s professional sports leagues, Gov. Chris Christie will now try his luck at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The state has until mid-February to file an appeal to the nation’s highest court, which the governor says is “the only option left.”
“Yeah, you know, I’m not going to go to the galactic Supreme Court and appeal to them,” Christie joked during a press conference last week. “Pretty much, a federal question ends at the United States Supreme Court.”
It’s the place Christie — who signed sports betting into law last year after voters approved it in a referendum — has always said the case belongs.
But persuading the justices to allow New Jersey to take its swings for sports betting is no easy task. About 10,000 petitions are filed with the Supreme Court each year, yet the justices hear arguments in just 100 or so.
“No more than about 5 percent … are granted,” said Jeremy D. Frey, a gaming industry lawyer who has watched the case. “There is little reason to think that (this case) will be one of them. The state’s central constitutional claim was always akin to a ‘Hail Mary’ football pass.”
New Jersey’s case has drawn lots of attention because it could allow sports betting — now limited to four states — to spread across the nation. The NCAA and the pro sports leagues claim that would “irreparably” harm athletic competition in America.
New Jersey is trying to prove that the federal statute barring states from legalizing or regulating sports betting — the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 — is unconstitutional.
