Atlantic City almost replaced Las Vegas as the hub of sports betting in the United States

Twenty-two years ago, Atlantic City was poised to replace Las Vegas as the epicenter of sports betting in the U.S. Atlantic City casino revenue had eclipsed $3 billion for the first time. And the federal government had just handed New Jersey a chance at an East Coast monopoly on sports betting. It was a huge opportunity, one that had the biggest oddsmaker in Las Vegas ready to move operations to the Boardwalk.

In 1992, the government passed a federal statute that prohibited the expansion of legalized sports betting outside of Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana. New Jersey was granted a one-year window to amend state laws and legalize sports betting. Atlantic City was in position to be able to offer something New York City, Boston and Philadelphia could not – legal sports betting.

The Tri-State area’s population dwarfed Nevada’s. The betting handle was expected to follow suit. It got the attention of Roxy Roxborough, the most prominent oddsmaker in Nevada and a big fan of the Vegas scene.

“I had lived in Las Vegas for 20 years. I wanted to go to New Jersey like I wanted a hole in my head,” recalled Roxborough. “But I just thought it was such a good opportunity.”

Owner and founder of the Las Vegas Sports Consultants, Roxborough provided odds to the majority of Nevada sports books in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the face of Nevada sports betting and the future of the industry nationwide. A nationally syndicated columnist, Roxborough appeared on shows like “Nightline” and “Crossfire,” speaking on behalf of the sports betting industry. He’s credited with reducing some of the stigmas that had been attached to Las Vegas sports betting.

In 1988, Roxborough began working for powerhouse lottery vendor GTECH. Together, they created a sports betting lottery: A pari-mutuel parlay card that required a minimum of three picks and featured the NFL. Oregon was the first state to try the sports lottery and generated enough revenue to attract interest from other states.

“The plan was to roll this game out everywhere,” recalls Roxborough, now 63, and enjoying retired life mostly in Bangkok. “Michigan was Gung ho. Kentucky was ready to go. But the NFL got worried there was going to be an NFL lottery in every state.”

The league’s concerns spawned the Bradley Bill, named after Sen. Bill Bradley, and today more commonly referred to as PASPA or the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. PASPA was designed to stop the spread of legalized sports betting in the U.S. It shut down Roxborough’s lottery vision, but opened up an even bigger opportunity – New Jersey.

Everyone, including Roxborough, believed New Jersey would take advantage of the one-year window the government granted the state to legalize sports betting.

“Revenue from it was going to be tied into senior housing,” Roxborough said. “It had a ton of support. We assumed it was going to pass. The thinking was since New York couldn’t get it, it would bring in tons of people. New Jersey was going to get a legalized monopoly on the East Coast. Gambling is all about considering alternative outcomes, but this was such a no-brainer at one time that it was going to pass, I never considered that it wouldn’t.”

Convinced that New Jersey was in position to become the American hub of sports betting, Roxborough decided to move operations of the Las Vegas Sports Consultants to Atlantic City. He had an office picked out on the Boardwalk and began house hunting in New Jersey. He was going to leave the Las Vegas life and head east.

“It was going to be a great market for us,” Roxborough said. “You had to be licensed, and since we already were in Nevada, we thought we could probably lock up every casino for odds. Plus, there was the time difference. There was no way New Jersey was going to wait until Nevada put up numbers around 12 or 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Atlantic City would have been the first to put up lines. At that point, I thought Atlantic City was going to be the hub of sports betting. Then, things fell apart.”

The sports betting legislation that was expected to breeze through the New Jersey Assembly stalled and eventually died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Stories vary as to why the bill never made it to Gov. James Florio’s desk. Many believe the NFL, especially New York Jets owner Leon Hess, applied pressure. Donald Trump called the politics behind the bill’s failure  “a sham.”

“There was a lot of pressure from the leagues about what was going to happen,” Roxborough said. “They were talking no all-star games, and I’m pretty sure New Jersey never would have hosted the Super Bowl if they would have had sports gambling.”

Now, two decades later, Atlantic City is a reeling town. Casinos are closing at a frightening pace. Three of the city’s 12 have closed this year, with a fourth expected to stop operations in September. Atlantic City casino revenue plummeted to $2.8 billion in 2013, the lowest it’s been since 1989.

Nevada sports books won $202.8 million in 2013.