On Friday, Judge Michael Shipp granted the NCAA and four major professional sports leagues a permanent injunction to prevent New Jersey casinos and racetracks from offering sports betting. The decision was unsurprising, but still extremely disappointing, to New Jersey state officials who have been attempting to establish legalized, regulated sports betting in the state for over three years.
New Jersey should, and it appears will, exercise any and all legal options it has in fighting to establish sports betting in the state. State Senator Raymond Lesniak, the leader of New Jersey's campaign to legalize sports betting, told ESPN on Friday that New Jersey would appeal Friday's decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals this week.
Regardless of the outcome of the appeal, hopefully other leagues will follow the lead of National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver. Eight days before Judge Shipp's ruling, Silver, whose league ironically is a party fighting against sports betting in New Jersey, wrote a heavily-discussed op-ed in the New York Times calling for Congress to "adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards."
Silver acknowledged that sports betting in the United States currently operates mainly through "illicit bookmaking operations and shady offshore websites." Why not legalize and regulate the industry so governments and legitimate businesses can be the beneficiaries instead of underground bookmakers and offshore websites?
If the NCAA and other professional sports leagues adopt Silver's position, Congress would be more inclined to pass legislation revoking the outdated Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The benefits of an industry that will continue to thrive whether or not it is operating legally should shift from underground bookmakers and offshore businesses to governments and legitimate businesses.
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