Appeals court gives New Jersey’s quest for legal sports betting another shot

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia voted to vacate an earlier ruling against New Jersey’s attempt to allow sports betting in casinos and racetracks.

The leagues, made up of every major sports league and the NCAA, once again sued and got a favorable ruling from U.S. District Court judge Michael Shipp last November, with the appeal in the Third Circuit heard last winter.

Should New Jersey’s arguments prevail, the state’s opponents – the US Department of Justice, the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA – would likely petition the US Supreme Court for a stay.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s ruling; however, that Court stated that there was nothing that could stop New Jersey from removing prohibitions against sports wagering, thus establishing the roadmap for the Garden State to begin wagering on sports without violating the federal law. The state lost an appeal to rehear the case in August by a 3 member panel of judges.

“It’s huge”, Lesniak said.

“So now we are picking up judges one by one, when the panel ruled against us, Judge Fuentes dissented”.

Judge Julio Fuentes, who wrote the majority opinion in the 2013 ruling, was the dissenter in the more recent panel, seemingly setting the stage for further judicial review.

The two sides have been fighting in court for more than three years. “And this whole fantasy sports scheme is a distinction without a difference”. “I would suggest everyone book their rooms in Atlantic City for Super Bowl week, because we should have sports betting by then”.

“It has been a long battle for me, but it’s a very important battle because it will breathe life into Atlantic City and into our racetrack industry and bring tourism into Atlantic City, something that it needs very desperately right now”, said Lesniak, D-Union. Only Nevada and Delaware are legally able to offer online sports betting and in Delaware it is only multigame parlay betting in which players must pick several games correctly to succeed in a win.

Wallach says that he believes New Jersey’s chances of winning the case are now “excellent”, given that rehearings are historically followed by a change in the result of a case.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor at New Jersey 101.5.