The four major US sports leagues (NHL,NFL,NBA,MLB) and the NCAA have filed a federal court motion to block New Jersey sports betting in licensed state gambling enterprises (casinos and racetracks).
A statement by the sporting leagues was sent to US news media outlets, reporting that the leagues had asked for federal courts to block any actions which favoured sports betting in New Jersey by Senator Raymond Lesniak.
The statement deemed Lesniak and New Jersey governance attempts to allow sports betting as a blatant violation of US federal laws, motivated by self-interest of a few political members in New Jersey.
The four major professional insist that legal gambling undermined the integrity of their respective sports by creating an environment in which athletes or coaches could be pressured to throw games for financial gain.
The leagues, in their filing on Monday, said that the law passed by New Jersey’s Legislature explicitly saw sports gambling being a state-regulated industry, which would be a violation of the 1992 act. They also argued that since casinos and racetracks are heavily regulated by the state, offering sports wagering there would amount to having it regulated by the state as well.
Senator Ray Lesniak and Governor Chris Christie have yet to respond to statement made by the Sporting Leagues