New Jersey Sports Betting Law
On Tuesday, Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that legalized sports betting in the state of New Jersey. The only issue? There is currently a federal ban on gambling which will need to be overturned before this bill can officially be passed. If that law is overturned, it may set the precedent for other states to legalize betting in their own state — an appealing option to the many states running a budget deficit.
New Jersey voters supported this bill by a 2:1 margin in November and the bill passed through the state’s legislature last week, but bill S3113 took perhaps it’s biggest step to date when it was signed by Governor Christie yesterday.
Currently only four states — Nevada, Oregon, Montana and most recently Delaware — have legalized sports betting, and New Jersey is set to become the fifth. The law would allow betting on all collegiate and professional sporting events although bettors would be prohibited from wagering on in-state colleges such as Rutgers.
Sports betting revenue would be taxed at the same 8% rate that casino patrons typically pay on their gambling winnings. According to CBS News, a 1990s study indicated that sports’ betting is a $380 billion industry in the U.S. and many believe that the market has since grown to $500 billion since. That means legalized sports betting could theoretically inject $40 billion dollars into the economy.
This is obviously an important issue to sports bettors everywhere, and the team at SportsInsights will continue to monitor this situation as it progresses. You can receive breaking news updates like this in addition to betting trends and key injury updates by following us on twitter @SportsInsights.
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