New Jersey Governor signed sports betting bill

The bill was approved last week by the Assembly by a vote of 27-1 but required Christie’s signature in order to move on to the next stage. Monmouth Park Racetrack could become the first facility to offer such wagering services on October 26.

Christie, who earlier this year vetoed a bill that would have repealed the state’s prohibition on sports betting, announced last month that he was ordering the State Attorney General office to not prosecute casinos or racetracks offering sports wagering.

Democratic state Senator Raymond Lesniak, who authored the bill, said it will help boost business in the state’s struggling gambling market. “It will be a lifeline to Atlantic City casinos and for the horse racing industry, creating jobs and economic opportunities that will serve the city and the state for years to come,” Lesniak said in a statement.

Christie’s approval of the bill comes despite opposition from the country’s four major professional sports leagues and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which last month filed a court challenge against the bill. The challenge, which was also supported by the US Department of Justice, branded the attempt as ‘astounding,’, ‘specious’ and a ‘blatant violation’ of a previous court order.

US District Judge Shipp had been due to give an opinion on the case last week, opted to delay the hearing until October 31 and now November 21 in order to give both sides more time to file addditonal briefs.

The new bill could finally end a legal battle that began in 2011 when New Jersey voters approved legalizsed sports gambling in a non-binding referendum, Legislation followed by passing a sports wagering bill that Governor Christie signed into law in 2012.

However, the four major professional sports league and the NCAA sued several months later to stop the effort, with Shipp ruling in early 2013 that the federal law restricting sports betting in Nevada and three other states was constitutional.

Following this ruling, Shipp issued a permanent injunction that stopped New Jersey from implementing the law, with the US Supreme Court declining to take up the state’s appeal.

Christie’s order to the State Attorney General last month signaled the start of the latest effort to legalize sports betting within the state.