Expert: NJ Racetracks Likely To Add Sports Betting Before Casinos Do
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Horse racing tracks are likely to implement sports betting in New Jersey before casinos do, a gaming expert says.
Joseph Weinert, executive vice president of New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming Group, told WCBS 880's Levon Putney on Wednesday that most casino operators in Atlantic City own other gaming properties around the country, so they may fear bucking the feds and losing their gaming licenses.
Racetracks, however, "don't have the licensing requirements the casinos have to worry about," Weinert said.
Expert: NJ Racetracks Likely To Add Sports Betting Before Casinos Do
"Racetracks and casinos would both love to have sports betting, and they would both love to have it as soon as possible," Weinert added.
New Jersey state Senate President Steve Sweeney said lawmakers are working to clear up language in state laws that the federal courts cited as a reason sports gambling is not legal there.
However, "the federal courts basically told us there's nothing keeping us from doing it," Sweeney said.
Dennis Drazin, a legal adviser to Monmouth Park Racetrack, said Wednesday the track's plan is to open a sports book in 45 days, or by the last weekend of October.
On Tuesday Drazin had said he was hoping to get a sports book open by this Sunday -- and certainly within a month.
Gov. Chris Christie's administration issued a directive Monday allowing the state's casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting.
His action, through the state attorney general's office, is likely to be challenged by the professional and collegiate sports leagues that fought New Jersey's efforts to overturn a ban on sports betting in all but four states. That effort ended with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear the case.
The governor says sports betting is legal under previous federal rulings as long as none of the wagers involve a collegiate game played in New Jersey or a New Jersey college team elsewhere in the country.
Christie said casinos and tracks can start offering betting immediately.
A spokeswoman for the Meadowlands Racetrack said Wednesday the track isn't planning on offering betting on sports for now, and didn't offer a timeline.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
