To no one's surprise, the Department of Justice will defend the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 which makes it illegal for states like New Jersey to offer sports wagering. New Jersey will be claiming this law is unconstitutional in that it denies the State of New Jersey the right to offer professional sports wagering while some other states are allowed to offer sports wagering.
While New Jersey officials claim they expected the Feds to intervene, it is my gut feeling that the law will be upheld. One reason I feel this way is a few years ago the U.S. Supreme Court refused to get involved in a case which sought to allow Delaware to offer single game sports wagering, which would have been an expansion over their three game parlay wagering which was already legal in the Diamond State. Secondly, being New Jersey was given an opportunity to approve sports wagering prior to the law taking effect and it chose not to, I don't think the State of New Jersey will be able to argue successfully that it was discriminated against.
In other news, it appears the pace of constructing OTWs in the State of New Jersey will finally be picking up as the Bergen Record reports each permit holder must identify a new location and have it up and running by the end of this year or risk the lost of the license to build an OTW.
To know one's surprise, a proposal has been made to allow the racinos in Indiana to become full-fledged casinos and allow the 'riverboats' to come ashore. No doubt this is triggered by the legalizing of slots at Ohio racetracks. With the exception of New Jersey, it seems each state is interested in regaining their share of the gambling dollar being lost to surrounding states by upgrading their offerings. It won't be long until Ohio will seek to offer full casino gaming as well. It seems everyone but New Jersey politicians realize casino gambling is a commodity based on convenience. Gambling resorts are a dinosaur.
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