Sports Leagues Seek NJ Injunction

Published: October 21, 2014 02:21 pm EDT

On Monday, October 20, the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the NCAA filed a lawsuit which seeks an injunction to block the legalization of sports wagering in the state of New Jersey.

On October 17, Governor Chris Christie reinforced his support for legal sports wagering in New Jersey by signing legislation which reflects recent court rulings and removes prohibitions against sports wagering in the state.

The sporting organizations involved with the lawsuit are claiming that New Jersey’s new law, which had been bill S-2460, is in violation of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which is the 1992 federal ban on state-sponsored sports betting.

"How can that be determined when Las Vegas is taking bets already, every single day?” New Jersey State Sen. Raymond Lesniak has been quoted as saying. “The NFL has three games at Wembley Stadium (in London) every year where people are betting right across the street from the stadium."

Officials from Monmouth Park Racetrack announced on October 17 that the track will begin offering and accepting wagers on sporting contests and athletic events on Sunday, October 26 at the racetrack.

The sporting organizations’ lawsuit states that, "If the 2014 Sports Wagering Law is not declared unlawful... the proliferation of state-sponsored and approved sports gambling in Atlantic City casinos and at New Jersey racetracks will cause immediate and irreparable harm to the sports leagues."

(With files from businessinsider.com)

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