NJ Senators urge NCAA to reconsider sports betting ban

The letter arrives the morning before the NCAA's annual Board of Directors meeting to review rules and policies.

The NCAA has successfully sued to stop legal sports betting in New Jersey. It also won't hold any major college championship contests in the state because of the law the NCAA successfully blocked.

New Jersey's two U.S. senators have asked the NCAA to revisit both decisions.

"We are not asking that the NCAA change its prohibition on sports wagering for student-athletes, coaches, or administrators," wrote U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker (D-N.J.)

Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, also a Democrat, joined in the letter because her state also is impacted. In both cases, the states have passed laws permitting sports betting on NCAA games.

The letter describes the NCAA's policies on sports betting "counterproductive to the NCAA's stated goal of protecting the integrity of the game" since the American Gaming Association has estimated that only $295 million out of $10.4 billion was bet on March Madness last month legally in Nevada.

The difference is that sports betting is legal in Nevada, but not in New Jersey - not yet, anyway. The Garden State is awaiting a report from the U.S. Solicitor General to the U.S. Supreme Court next month that could finally give New Jersey a chance at the top court six years after it passed its state law.