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On Monday, New Jersey won a major Supreme Court case that struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a federal law that banned sports betting in states across the country, with Nevada being a glaring exemption. In a 6–3 decision, the high court’s justices found the law to be unconstitutional, allowing the Garden State to follow through on a 2011 constitutional amendment that would legalize sports betting there.
The decision promises to lead to the widespread legalization of sports betting across the country in the coming months and years, but putting up money on a game could become a reality in New Jersey before the summer solstice. Following oral arguments for the case in December, then-Governor Chris Christie said that sports betting could begin in the state within two weeks of a decision. “We’re like Boy Scouts,” he said. “We’re prepared in New Jersey. We’re ready to go.”
Gambling is already legal in New Jersey, with Atlantic City as the state’s major hub for the action. There is also a group of casinos and racetracks in New York State that allow for gambling, though none of them are in New York City. In 2013, Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a law to allow for a limited number of Las Vegas–style casinos to open within the state and also provided language that would allow for sports betting, if and when the Supreme Court decision on the issue went into effect. Following Monday’s news, Cuomo promised an “economic analysis and a legal analysis” but said that it would take until next year for sports betting to be realized in New York due to the fact that there are only a few days left in the legislative session.
The decision does, however, further establish New Jersey as a den of vices for New Yorkers. When legalized sports betting is a go in the state, New Yorkers will be able to hop on a PATH train across the Hudson River to place their bets. The news comes in the middle of a push for marijuana legalization in the state, which turned from a pipe dream to an imminent reality following Democrat Phil Murphy’s victory in the gubernatorial election last fall. Throw in the comparatively low tax on cigarettes in the state, and New Jersey is uniquely poised to become a destination for New York City residents who want to chain-smoke spliffs while they bet on sports games.
The state admittedly has plenty of charms to woo New Yorkers of all ilks—the addition of legal sports betting only adds to them.
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