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New Jersey Eyes Legalization of Collegiate Sports Betting
By Jeff Osienya Nov 11, 2020 LegalityIn an effort to bring in more revenue for state coffers, the Senate Budget Committee in New Jersey has unanimously voted for the legalization of sports betting on all collegiate games in the state.So far, November has been a winning month for the expansion of the sports betting industry in the USA. Last week, voters in South Dakota, Maryland and Nebraska showed up to the ballot and overwhelmingly voted in favor of different gambling approval and expansion measures.
Now, New Jersey is following suit with a constitutional amendment that’s looking to legalize sports betting on all major collegiate sports. Currently, sports betting law in the state of New Jersey prohibits betting on any collegiate games that are played within the state, and the out of state games that also involve New Jersey college teams.
On Monday, the Senate Budget Committee of the Garden State approved the new collegiate betting measure dubbed the Senate Concurrent Resolution 133 (SCR No. 133) in a unanimous 11-0 vote to make the first of a few steps that must be followed in the legalization of the draft bill.
As has always been the case with constitutional amendments for any state in the US, residents will have to vote in favor of collegiate sports betting before the activity finally becomes law. The lawmakers in the Garden State are thus calling for a public referendum in November 2021 to give voters a chance to play their critical role in the gambling expansion process.
A Highlight of New Jersey’s College Sports Wagering Item
Initially, the SCR No. 13 item had been drafted with an aim to allow wagering on a limited number of college sports events in the Garden State, i.e., only college playoff or championship games. But then, before the measure was passed on Monday’s session, the state lawmakers amended the bill to include wagering on all collegiate sporting events of the regular season and Division I college sports teams in the state.
This bill was first introduced in the Senate on 19th October under the sponsorship of a New Jersey Democrat, Senator Paul A. Sarlo of Distric 36. After Monday’s approval by the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Sarlo disclosed that they had received the blessing of the Attorney General, the NCAA and many of the collegiate teams in the state and so, they decided to go for the full slate of college betting.
Should it cross the finish line, the primary focus of SCR No. 13 is on major events such as the NCAA March Madness (Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament) particularly since the Garden State will be the host of one of the regional championship games at the Newark’s Prudential Center in 2025. The last time an NCAA March Madness event was held in New Jersey at was back in 2011. Moreover, state officials are also hopping that the MetLife Stadium will be picked to host college football bowl games.
Sports Betting Has Been a Smash Hit in the Garden State
Christina Renna, the head of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey also voiced her support for the approval of the collegiate sports betting item by the state’s Committee. She agreed that the move would translate to more bets which is a win for the nine retail betting casinos in Atlantic City, and of course, more revenue for the state to boost the region’s economy.
The sports betting industry in New Jersey has been growing rapidly to a point where the state crushed its own national record in September after racking up a handle of over $748 million. The previous record of $668 million had been set the previous month in August, and it blew past Nevada’s $614 million national record that had been set last year in November.
As the country’s sports betting industry continues to recover from the COVID-19 outbreak, the Garden State is surely doing incredibly well. Over the first 9 months of 2020, the state’s casinos and horse racing tracks collected roughly $3.3 billion in sports bets alone – a figure that Atlantic City used to hit after a full year from casino gambling, before the launch of a regulated sports betting market in the state!
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