New Jersey has lost every step of the way, but isn’t done fighting for sports betting.
The state is expected today to petition for a rehearing in front of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in its landmark legal case aimed at bringing Las Vegas-style sports betting to its race tracks and casinos. The New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association filed its petition with the court Thursday and noted that N.J. Gov. Chris Christie will add his request for an en banc rehearing Friday, Nov. 1.
In September, the Third Circuit ruled in favor of the Dept. of Justice, NCAA, NFL and other major professional sports leagues, which are suing Christie to stop his efforts. New Jersey already lost a district judge’s ruling on the case in May. The state received a boost of confidence, however, in its initial appeal, when one of three Third Circuit judges dissented. Some legal experts said the Third Circuit’s 2-1 ruling was closer than most expected.
New Jersey Sen. Ray Lesniak said the judge’s dissent plus the likelihood of a quicker rehearing prompted the state to go back to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals instead of taking its case to the US Supreme Court.
The Third Circuit can decline to rehear the case, which would force New Jersey to appeal to the Supreme Court or drop the case. By asking for an en banc rehearing at the appeals court level, the state hopes to expedite the process. A rehearing at Third Circuit would likely occur in front of 14 judges sometime in 2014, estimates Ryan Rodenberg, an assistant sports law analytics professor at Florida State University, who has followed the case closely.
If New Jersey was to get a favorable decision in its en banc appeal, Lesniak believes the state could start offering legal sports betting immediately. In that instance, the Dept. of Justice and the sports leagues would be expected to take the case to the Supreme Court.
“I’m not concerned with an appeal to the Supreme Court from a decision on our side,” Lesniak said in an emailed statement, “because the sports leagues and Dept. of Justice would not be able to get an injunction against it, since they could not prove irreparable injuring with sports betting already in Nevada and with the NFL playing games in England where they are betting on the games across the street from Wembley Stadium.”
Sports betting advocates also point out that the NBA is already playing preseason games in Las Vegas and has held its All-Star Weekend in Vegas in the past.
The legal battle began in August 2012, when the NCAA, NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball sued Christie, seven months after he signed legislation that legalized sports betting in the state. The legislation followed a vote on a referendum that was approved by New Jersey voters by a better than two-to-one margin.
The case is centered on the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a federal statute that prohibits sports betting in all but four states—Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana.