South Jersey seeks sports betting hearing

Two congressmen asked the House Judiciary Committee to conduct hearings on what to do if sports betting gets approved by the Supreme Court.

US.- U.S. Reps. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, and Donald Norcross, D-1st, wrote a letter to the House Judiciary Committee to ask for oversight hearings regarding what to do if the Supreme Court rules in favor of New Jersey in the sports betting case.

The congressmen addressed the letter to judiciary committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and ranking committee member Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. on October 13 and said that they “strongly believe the relevant committees should examine the issue prior to the court’s ruling to ensure Congress is fully informed and positioned to quickly respond to the court,” Press of Atlantic City revealed.

Last week, the Supreme Court updated its calendar and revealed that oral arguments in New Jersey’s appeal of the national federal betting ban on sports betting will be heard on December 4, but the Supreme Court won’t unveil the results of the case until mid-2018. The case is primarily centered around the fact that there is a US$150 billion illegal sports betting market in the United States each year. PASPA, a sports protection act that was passed in 1992, prevents states from offering gambling lines on sports. Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana were granted special exemptions, as all four of those states were offering some variation of sports lotteries back in 1992.

“This massive illegal market lacks consumer protections and deprives states and local jurisdictions of revenue that would otherwise stem from a regulated marketplace. In recognition of PASPA’s failure to prevent illegal sports betting and the benefits of regulations and taxing this activity, numerous states have either enacted or advanced legislative measures to authorize sports betting in recent years,” said the letter.