Regarding the pending lawsuit over sports betting in the state, Chris Christie, New Jersey Governor, has made a decision and it is to keep him and the state out of it. The lawsuit was initiated by State Senator Raymond Lesniak, which is an attempt to overturn the federal sports betting ban in the state.

By allowing the Atlantic City casinos to take in sports bets, Lesniak felt that the state’s current financial strains could be lessened, thereby providing additional revenue. He claims that an additional $100 million per year could be pulled in by the state by bet on sports, if they rejected the federal ban.

While it may indeed increase the state’s revenue base, Governor Christie felt that the lawsuit was likely to fail and the state’s time and resources contributing to the lawsuit would be wasted. The Governor, through a spokesperson stopped short of dismissing the lawsuit entirely, in which the chances for success in the courts would be slim, although referred to it as a “legal longshot”.

Over the Governor’s decision, disappointment was expressed by State Senator Lesniak, as the former decided not to participate. However, he said that the lawsuit would be pursued as intended.
The lawsuit not only affects New Jersey but forty-five other states as well and it is an attempt to overturn a ban that was instituted in 1992.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 17th, 2010 at 3:55 am and is filed under Sports Betting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.