Home Daily News 3rd Circuit rejects NJ's attempt to get around…

Entertainment & Sports Law

3rd Circuit rejects NJ's attempt to get around federal ban on sports betting

Image from Shutterstock.

A federal appeals court has upheld a ban on sports betting in all but four states.

The ruling dealt a serious blow to New Jersey’s latest bid to expand its gambling options to help out the state’s struggling gaming industry, the Associated Press reports.

New Jersey has been trying to legalize sports betting since 2009. Last year, it passed a law partially repealing the ban at casinos and racetracks. But a 1992 federal law bans state-sanctioned sports betting in every state except Delaware, Montana, Oregon and Nevada. New Jersey missed the cutoff deadline which would have allowed it to join those four states.

The 3rd Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling (PDF), said the state can’t use “clever drafting” to get around the federal ban.

Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and the NCAA all support the ban.

But Geoff Freeman, president of the American Gaming Association, the casino industry’s national trade organization, said it is time to revisit the issue.

“With Americans betting at least $140 billion on sports illegally each year, it’s clear that current law is not achieving its intended result,” he said.

Related articles:

ABA Journal: “NJ suffers a setback in its bid for a sports gambling law”

ABAJournal.com: “Leagues win a restraining order against NJ racetrack that wanted to allow sports gambling”