New Jersey hasn’t given up on its sports betting dreams.
On Friday, Governor Chris Christie signed a new sports wagering bill into law, and the Monmouth Park horse racing track in Oceanport announced it would begin taking bets on Sunday, October 26.
In a statement released by Christie’s office Friday, the governor said the bill “closely adheres to controlling federal law.”
The federal law in question is the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, passed in 1992. The law has effectively limited sports betting to a few states, with Nevada the only state that’s been able to offer single-game wagering.
That Monmouth would plan to start taking sports wagers on a Sunday shouldn’t come as any surprise. The ability to legally wager on NFL games figures to fuel a good deal of the public interest in sports betting in the state.
However, New Jersey might not be home free just yet. The NFL has more than a week to legally challenge New Jersey’s betting plans, something it successfully did just last year in conjunction with other athletic leagues and governing bodies, including the NCAA and NBA.
The NFL declined comment Friday night about New Jersey’s designs on sports betting.