Christie Not Giving Up on New Jersey Sports Betting

Governor Chris Christie has proven his dedication to bringing legal sports betting to New Jersey, by signing another bill that will legalize this activity in the Garden State.  Recently the State Assembly gave passage to S2460 which strikes clauses from New Jersey’s law books which ban sports betting.

Christie said in a statement following the signing of the bill: “As I’ve said all along, I am a strong proponent of legalized sports wagering in New Jersey. But given earlier decisions by federal courts, it was critical that we follow a correct and appropriate path to curtail new court challenges and expensive litigation. I believe we have found that path in this bipartisan legislative effort.”

This doesn’t mean that the governor can lay down his boxing gloves just yet. A federal judge still needs to give sign off on Christie’s law, and professional sports leagues have launched a lawsuit in an appeals court.

The new legislation essentially gives state approval for racetracks and casinos such as Monmouth Park to regulate and operate sports betting.  This could happen as early as next week.  Monmouth Park has already made plans to take bets on the Jets-Bills game and other NFL line ups on October 26th.

“Obviously, a lot of hard work and effort went into this,” said Dennis Drazin, an attorney representing Monmouth Park.  “I think that a navigator never distinguished himself on a calm sea. It’s been a long fight and we’re glad (the governor) has chosen a way to continue the fight to get sports betting in state. We look forward to any challenge from the leagues, if they want to come in and try to stop us. We think we’re in the right.”