Vol. 5 No. 3, March 2008
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Hail Mary Pass
Legal sports wagering is a win-win for Atlantic City and our patrons. Why is it such a long shot?
Super Bowl 2008 has come and gone. What a memorable game it was, with two East Coast teams competing, and the underdog Giants triumphant in a nail-biting finish.
While it was just an ordinary Sunday in February for our casinos, imagine the excitement if sports betting were legal in Atlantic City. If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas on a Sunday during football season, or during any other major sporting event, you know the action and excitement that surrounds the legal sports books in Vegas.
If key members of the state legislature have their way, New Jersey casinos will someday offer legal sports betting. But federal law prohibits sports wagering in all but four states grandfathered in during the early 1990s (most notably Nevada). It will take an act of Congress or a court decision to end the prohibition and bring legalized sports betting to New Jersey’s casinos.
Everyone knows that sports betting already happens in New Jersey, as it does in other states, through illegal bookmakers and internet betting (both unregulated and tax-free). If sports betting was legal here, we believe the revenues would equal or exceed the amounts wagered on the Las Vegas Strip—approximately $700 million a year. This would generate gross gaming revenue of approximately $50 million. At the current rate of 8 percent, taxable revenue for New Jersey would increase by about $4 million. This estimate may be conservative when you consider the density of our nearby population, and our legendary love of sports.
While these revenue projections are not huge, every little bit helps. Sports wagering would be another important piece of the puzzle in Atlantic City’s efforts to become a true destination resort, like Las Vegas, with a full-service gaming experience. It would also result in more non-gaming revenue (hotel occupancy, more food and beverage consumption, more retail and other non-gaming spending).
A respected and thorough regulatory environment is already in place via the Casino Control Commission and the Division of Gaming Enforcement. With legal sports betting, New Jersey would provide a second regulatory system, in addition to Nevada’s, to oversee the multi- billion-dollar sports betting industry that already exists in our country.
The NFL is against it, saying legal sports betting in New Jersey will risk the integrity of pro sports. We respectfully disagree. Professional sports leagues have only grown in stature in the years that legal, regulated sports wagering has been permitted in Nevada. Why would the introduction of sports wagering here change anything? And how would the sports leagues be damaged if the illegal gambling that we all know occurs becomes legal and regulated?
CANJ supports the passage of legislation to bring legal wagering on professional sports to Atlantic City. We admit it’s a long shot. But as we just saw in the Super Bowl, sometimes long shots win. Just ask the Giants.
