TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie suggested Wednesday morning that New Jersey's seven-year battle for legal sports betting isn't dead yet -- and he sharply criticized President Obama and the nation's top professional sports leagues in the process.

A day after a federal appeals court shot down the state's latest effort to legalize such wagering at casinos and racetracks, Christie slammed the decision and said he may petition the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

"I think we go to the Supreme Court," he said while co-hosting the "Boomer & Carton" sports-talk radio show on WFAN-660 AM. "There's only one step left: the United States Supreme Court."

Christie, though, conceded that such a move is a "long shot." The nation's highest court accepts only 1 percent of petitions. And the court declined to hear an earlier version of New Jersey's case in 2014.

New Jersey has been pushing for legal sports wagering since voters approved it in 2011. But four pro sports leagues -- the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL -- as well as the NCAA have successfully sued twice to stop it, saying the wagering would hurt the integrity of their games and violate a 1992 federal ban on sports betting.

In the latest ruling, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals voted 10-2 against the state, saying New Jersey's newest plan still violated the ban.

Christie called the Third Circuit "part of the hypocrisy court."

"With the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NHL, the NCAA, they're all making money off fantasy sports -- they're investing in it," the Republican governor said on Wednesday's radio show. "They go to court and they try to stop us in New Jersey from legalizing what is happening every Sunday -- illegal bookmakers in the mafia. They'd rather have them do it."

"They think that having mafia people and illegal betting is somehow safer than having legalized betting for the integrity of the game," Christie added. "It's insane."

Christie argued that states should have a right to decide whether they want sports betting.

"This is the long arm of Barack Obama's federal government, where he takes away rights from a state," the governor said of the Democratic president. "A state should be able to decide whether or not they want to have this in the state. If they want to have it, they should be able to have it."

But, Christie added, Obama does not stop states from legalizing marijuana even though the drug is outlawed at the federal level.

"That's OK, but he sent his Justice Department in to fight New Jersey to get legalized gambling," the governor said. "Go figure that out."

Christie, though, said during his unsuccessful presidential campaign last year that if he were elected to the White House, he would take away recreational marijuana use from states that have already legalized it.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.