A Stunning Turn of Events for Legalized Sports Gambling in New Jersey
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order which will permit legalized sports gambling in New Jersey — effective immediately.
Wow!
What a difference a day makes.
On Monday afternoon, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order which will permit legalized sports gambling in New Jersey — effective immediately.
Wow, just wow.
As recently as last month, Gov. Christie seemed to have completely given up on this initiative. Earlier, he publicly acknowledged that state-sanctioned sports gambling was a virtual impossibility given current federal law, which clearly contains prohibitive statutes against legalized betting on professional and college sports in all but four states (Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana), the Garden State noticeably expunged from the party. The battle seemed to be over, with Gov. Christie and the citizens of New Jersey utterly powerless to do anything to save what remains of their ailing casino industry — all this despite the fact that voters there had already overwhelmingly approved sports gambling in a statewide referendum.
Then, the lights along the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk started going out. Three casinos — The Showboat, Trump Plaza, and The Revel — went dark. Thousands of workers, about 20 percent of the state’s entire casino workforce, lost their jobs. About 6,000 citizens were tacked on to the state’s already swelling unemployment rolls, with many seeking government assistance from a treasury admittedly starving for revenues. Anger mounted. And for once, instead of just talking and doing nothing, public officials decided to try something really bold, starting at the very top with a dinged-up Governor who has taken more than a few body blows in recent years.
Casinos in Atlantic City will be allowed to implement legalized sports gambling immediately, with the caveat that no bets are to be taken on teams based in New Jersey (or on any other event taking place within the state). Right now, that means the NFL’s New York Jets, New York Giants, and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils won’t be up on the board. Same with Rutgers University and perhaps a few other college sports teams. But everything else becomes open season at the betting windows.
New Jersey’s startling push to implement legalized sports gambling promptly is splendidly well-timed. In fact, this might be the perfect storm — for multiple reasons.
First, the National Football League — which has consistently stonewalled all attempts to expand sports gambling where ever it had been proposed — is now embroiled in its own public controversy. The fallout from the Ray Rice debacle yesterday casts a dark shadow all the way to league headquarters. Some in the media are calling for the resignation of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, for his apparent ineptitude in the way he and other executives handled such an egregious case of domestic violence percolated by one of its star players. At this moment, the NFL is currently being exposed for what it truly is — a Neanderthal conglomerate of narcissists and money-grubbers who are completely out of touch with mainstream society. Meanwhile, most citizens (and certainly the vast majority of football fans) want legalized sports gambling. They recognize the NFL’s stance for what it truly is — blatant hypocrisy. So, while the league office tries to fend off charges on other fronts — be it the Ray Rice scandal all the way to inconsistent officiating which now openly calls the integrity of games into question — now is the time to go after the wounded, while they’re down.
Second, the new initiative comes at the very start of the NFL’s regular season. With 16 more potentially lucrative weeks of pro football games, plus the playoffs and Super Bowl yet to come over the next five months, this provides a potential wagering extravaganza that — in time, if managed correctly — could rival Nevada’s total sportsbook handle. Given the proximity of far greater numbers of people to Atlantic City than exists in either Las Vegas or Reno, once casinos along with the Boardwalk open windows and start accepting wagers, lines will likely stretch down the block. Think Powerball — that’s the scene Atlantic City will likely become on Saturday and Sunday mornings when dozens of games are listed on the board and are open for wagering.
Third, with online gambling in New Jersey barely a year old, adding sports wagering to the menu would undoubtedly increase public awareness that this option now exists. Sports gambling would boost revenues for both casinos and the state, which also benefits from shared proceeds of the drop. Clearly, online gambling’s numbers have been disappointing, to date. They continue to lag behind projections. Imagine the increase in traffic at casino sites if gamblers could make bets via a computer or smartphone. Billions would be wagered.
Finally, at least one maverick executive recognizes the tremendous new opportunities that come with expanded legalized sports gambling. Moreover, his personal stock right now is higher than any other decision-maker in all of sports. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently stated that gambling on basketball games was “inevitable.” What a refreshing, forward-looking perspective from someone in charge. (Note: See Silver’s remarks on legalized sports gambling below).
Of course, Silver is the lone wolf in a pack of molting ostriches with their heads still stuck in a sandpit of denial. While sports betting openly takes place in Great Britain and throughout the rest of Europe, where some iconic teams are now sponsored by gambling websites, the American sports scene appears to be in a perpetual state of relapse towards the year 1919, fearing that gambling on its games will turn every team into a potential Chicago Black Sox scandal. Look for the antiquated attitudes of the mighty NFL to galvanize a man-the-barricades challenge to what’s going on in New Jersey. Moreover, expect the powerfully nefarious NCAA, the body which governs all college sports, to latch forces with the NFL to extinguish what they view as an outright insurrection. The NCAA, with its primitive codes against all forms of gambling, certainly won’t take this sitting down.
The real fight has only begun. Let’s now hope that Gov. Christie and other elected state officials will stand up to the intense heat which is sure to follow Monday’s executive decision. This initiative has the potential to be a game-changer, not just for New Jersey, but eventually for other states too, which are likely to finally recognize that sports gambling as just another common recreational pastime enjoyed by millions of good people.
The move to legalize sports gambling makes perfect sense for New Jersey, especially coming off one of the worst month’s in the state’s recent history, with an entire industry now decimated. While legalized sports gambling likely won’t be enough to cure all the ills of a collapsing sector of this economy, it might stop some of the hemorrhaging. At the very least, such action reinforces public trust in the state’s elected officials that they are thinking outside the box and seeking new ways to promote the prosperity of its citizens.
The next battle probably takes place in the courts. But in at least one court, proponents of sports gambling are already winning. In the court of public opinion, just about everyone recognizes that gambling on sporting events has always taken place, is now taking place, and will always take place so long as there are contests with both excitement and uncertainty. For once, the public and some progressive politicians and executives are with the times, while the sports leagues appear hopelessly stuck in a bygone era.
Let’s hope there’s nothing the opposition can do to stop what just happened in New Jersey. Yet even with a victory, the irony is that legalized sports gambling will end up making the sports leagues even richer and more powerful than they already are. They’re the ones who will reap the vast rewards awaiting them from a flood of money openly riding on the outcome of their games.
That’s the real tragedy. Yet again, the house always wins.
Footnote: At a September 5, 2014 press conference, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated as follows:
“It’s inevitable that, if all these states are broke, that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada and we will ultimately participate in that…if you have a gentleman’s bet or a small wager on any kind of sports contest, it makes you that much more engaged in it. That’s where we’re going to see it pay dividends. If people are watching a game and clicking to bet on their smartphones, which is what people are doing in the United Kingdom right now, then it’s much more likely you’re going to stay tuned for a long time.”
Silver also noted that he has no moral issue against sports betting. The NBA already allows its teams to enter marketing deals with casinos, which advertise openly inside many arenas.
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