For seven years, America's major professional and college sports leagues fought New Jersey in court to stop the state from legalizing sports betting.

Now, the Garden State's top lawmaker says New Jersey should sue them back.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney told NJ Advance Media he's exploring a lawsuit against the leagues so the state can recoup legal fees and back tax revenue now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in New Jersey's favor.

The leagues include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and the NCAA.

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, noted New Jersey spent $9 million in taxpayer money on the court case since 2011. Plus, he said, the state's casinos and racetracks lost out on "roughly $700 million" in revenue that could have come from sports betting in that time -- money the state could have pulled tax dollars from.

"I think we should be pushing back: 'Look, you cost us a lot of money," Sweeney said in a phone interview Tuesday. "There's a potential for the state of New Jersey to recover some real funds."

Sweeney is following the lead of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, the group that oversees horse racing in the state.

Dennis Drazin, the operator of Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport, said the association is prepping a federal lawsuit to seek at least $100 million in damages from the league dating to 2014.

That's when a federal judge sided with the leagues and blocked the park from opening a sports book even though the state passed a law saying its casinos and tracks could accept sports bets without state regulation.

The leagues were forced to post a $3.4 million bond at the time -- the amount of money Monmouth Park would lose over the month a temporary restraining order was in place. A federal appeals court later sided with the leagues, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court.

Drazin said the horsemen association is due that money and millions more in lost revenue over the last 3 1/2 years.

He said the association plans to argue that the "leagues acted in bad faith," noting how the leagues partnered with fantasy sports companies; how the NHL expanded to include a team from Las Vegas, which for years has been the only place where full-scale sports betting is legal; and how the NFL is moving a team to Vegas.

New Jersey had been trying to legalize sports betting since 2011. But the sports leagues successfully sued the state multiple times, arguing such a move hurt the integrity of their games and violated a 1992 federal ban on such wagering in all but four states.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled last Monday the federal ban is unconstitutional. That opens the door for New Jersey and states across the country to legalize wagers on football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and more.

New Jersey lawmakers are now rushing to pass a bill by June 7 on how to regulate and tax sports betting at its casinos and tracks to get a head start on other states. The state treasurer said Monday the state is projecting at least $13 million in tax revenue from the wagering in the coming fiscal year.

Sweeney said he hasn't spoken yet to Gov. Phil Murphy's administration or state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin about a lawsuit.

He said he'd prefer the three of them work together instead of the Senate filing a suit on its own.

"We hold our strongest hand when the Legislature and the governor and the administration goes together," Sweeney said.

A spokesman for Murphy did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Coughlin, D-Middlesex, declined comment.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney is shown in 2016.

Spokepeople for the NBA, MLB, and NCAA declined comment Tuesday. Spokespeople for the NFL and NHL did not return messages seeking comment.

It's unclear whether lawsuits from the state and the horsemen association would hold up in court. Alan Milstein, a Moorestown-based attorney who has worked in sports law, said it's unlikely.

"I'm definitely not impressed with any litigation against the leagues for enforcing what they had a right to try to enforce," Milstein said. "They're not the ones that passed the statute. The statute specifically authorized them to file suit to enforce it. The Superme Court threw the statute out. That should be the end of it."

On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement calling for Congress to enact "uniform standards for states" that legalize betting. In other words, he doesn't trust states like New Jersey.

"As it was for my predecessors, there is no greater priority for me as the commissioner of the National Football League than protecting the integrity of our sport," Goodell said.

He added the league wants to make sure it "can protect our content and intellectual property from those who attempt to steal or misuse it."

Sweeney dismissed Goodell's statement.

"This is how we got into the problem before," the Senate president said. "I think what they didn't come out and say is: 'Congress created an opportunity to create a fund for us.' They're looking for money."

The NBA and MLB have been asking states for a cut of the total amount wagered on their games to help them pay for enforcement to prevent cheating and game fixing. They also say they deserve compensation for providing the games on which the bets are placed.

Sweeney said the leagues originally sought a 1 percent "integrity fee" but have now reduced that to a quarter of a percent.

Asked if the final sports betting bill passed by the Legislature might include such a fee, Sweeney said: "Absolutely not."

"They never got an integrity fee from Las Vegas," Sweeney said. "The Senate is not passing an integrity fee."

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