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PrintIn late May, when New Jersey governor Chris Christie first made news by declaring he intended to move forward with sports betting in the state despite expected legal action against it, we had this to say about the possibility of wagering being allowed as early as this fall.
So, which casino will take the plunge first? That’s the question that needs to be answered in the weeks and months ahead.
Rest assured, large casino companies with properties in other states won’t be pressing the issue, as they’d potentially be putting their licenses—and pocketbooks—at risk.
But if one casino gives it a shot, others would surely follow. That’s when things could get awfully interesting.
Well, count Monmouth Park Racetrack as the first operation willing to take the plunge.
“We’re the only ones who appear willing to go forward right now,” Dennis Drazin, the new operator of the racetrack, told The Record in New Jersey. “Everyone else wants to wait and see how it plays out.”
Christie said he had not spoken with Drazin directly, making it clear he didn’t want to influence casino industry officials with their decisions.
But that leads us to the latest prop offering from BetOnline.
You can bet on sports betting? Of course you can.
Quite obviously, BetOnline is still skeptical that this will actually make it through the courts by the football season. Assemblyman John Burzichelli said Monmouth Park’s aggression should speed up the process.
“I think this gets us into court sooner, and we were going there either way,” Burzichelli told The Record. “But we as a state will have to be prepared to defend our position, so we need outside counsel to be able to make what is a sophisticated academic argument. It’s a very specialized area of law.”
