TRENTON ? The nation?s top professional athletic leagues and the NCAA ? joined the U.S Justice Department -? will face off against New Jersey today in federal court, in a case that could decide the fate of the state?s attempt to legalize sports betting at its casinos and horse racing tracks.
The arguments, starting this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Trenton, are the height of a legal showdown months in the making. At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue for Atlantic City?s struggling casinos, plus a tax windfall for the state.
The NCAA and the pro sports leagues are challenging the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a 1992 law outlawing sports wagering in all but a few states, is unconstitutional.
New Jersey claims the law is unconstitutional, in part because it favors some states over others. It also claims the law presents a challenge to states? rights, essentially ?commandeering? the legislative process.
Anticipating a challenge, Christie said that ?if someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us.?
The Justice Department joined the case last month so it could defend its law.
The state had planned to start issuing licenses in January, after voters approved a referendum in 2011 to allow sports betting at the state?s tracks and casinos. The Legislature subsequently passed a bill legalizing the betting despite the 20-year-old federal law, and last January, it was signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie.
Last summer, the leagues did just that, filing a suit that claims allowing and promoting sports wagering would ?irreparably harm? amateur and professional sports and that it violates federal law.
Sports betting is legal only in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana, and analysts have estimated billions of dollars are bet illegally on sports games each year.
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Source: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/nations_sports_leagues_nj_face.html
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