Tag Archives: Paspa

NJ loses sports betting case, lodges appeal

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New Jersey Road Sign

 

 

 

 

 

 

State files appeal with Third Circuit US Court of Appeals after sports leagues and DoJ victory

New Jersey has been dealt a blow in its bid to legalise sports betting after federal judge Michael Shipp granted a permanent injunction against the state.

The state has already filed an appeal with the Third Circuit US Court of Appeals as part of a case which could yet go all the way to the Supreme Court as Governor Chris Christie seeks to challenge the Paspa federal law prohibiting all states from offering sports betting except Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.

The permanence of yesterday’s injunction is due to its enactment of a sports wagering law last year, in violation of federal law, although no charges will be made against the defendants representing New Jersey.

In an opinion, Shipp wrote: “Although some of the questions raised in this case are novel, judicial intervention is generally unwarranted no matter how unwise a court considers a policy decision of the legislative branch. As such, to the extent the people of New Jersey disagree with PASPA, their remedy is not through passage of a state law or through the judiciary, but through the repeal or amendment of Paspa in Congress.”

In January, the US Department of Justice joined the lawsuit filed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association along with the National Basketball Association, the Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Hockey League.

Last month, two New Jersey Congressmen introduced sports betting bills in Congress. Frank Pallone’s bill would exclude New Jersey from Paspa, while Frank LoBiondo’s bill would give all states until 1 January 2016 to legalise sports betting.

NJ sports betting verdict expected this month

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ChrisChristie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prosecution and defence give arguments to federal judge – new sports betting bills introduced in Congress

US district judge Michael Shipp has said he hopes to decide on the New Jersey sports betting case within two weeks, although the likelihood remains that the case would then be appealed to higher courts.

In Trenton yesterday, during nearly three hours of arguments for and against the state’s proposals to offer sports betting, former US solicitor general Ted Olson argued on behalf of New Jersey that the federal Paspa 1992 ban on sports betting violates the commerce clause of the constitution and affects the Garden State’s sovereignty.

Olson said to Shipp: “The government, through Paspa, has chosen to thrust the unwelcome burden of regulating sports gambling on the states. If it isn’t going to do so, it can’t instruct the states not to do it or else abandon it to Nevada or organised crime.”

Sports lawyer Jeffrey Mishkin, representing the prosecution – US attorney Paul Fishman and several professional sports leagues – said that Paspa does not overrule state legislature authority because it requires no enacting laws.

Mishkin said: “The language of [the law] does not require or compel the state of New Jersey to do anything. It forbids conduct, it does not require conduct.”

Last month, the US Department of Justice joined the lawsuit filed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association along with the National Basketball Association, the Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Hockey League.

New Jersey’s plans to permit sports betting were first announced last July following an announcement by Governor Chris Christie (pictured) about his intention to challenge Paspa to allow sports betting at Atlantic City’s casinos and race tracks. Paspa prohibits all states from offering sports betting except Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.

Although Shipp plans to make a decision before the end of the month, it is probable that the case would then go to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and maybe even the Supreme Court.

He said: “I’m sure this is not your last stop along the way.”

Meanwhile, two New Jersey Congressmen have introduced sports betting bills in Congress. Frank Pallone’s bill would exclude New Jersey from Paspa, while Frank LoBiondo’s bill would give all states until 1 January 2016 to legalise sports betting.

He told the Press of Atlantic City: “It would be nearly impossible to pass federal legislation if it is perceived as New Jersey versus the 45 other states. I firmly believe the best legislative strategy for actually accomplishing our shared goal is to give states another opportunity to provide sports betting within their borders.”

New Jersey condemns sports leagues’ lawsuit

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Defendants call the suit “speculative” and describe US federal sports betting ban as “unconstitutional”

New Jersey has filed papers challenging the PASPA federal ban on sports betting and opposing the professional sport leagues’ suit against the state’s bid to legalise it.

In a cross-motion for a summary judgement, where both parties submit briefs to the judge, in this case District Court Judge Michael Shipp, New Jersey argues that the sport associations lack the required constitutional standing and facts to claim that legalised sports betting would harm the leagues.

The plaintiffs, who are the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Basketball Association, the Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Hockey League, sued New Jersey officials in August.

The defendants, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie et al., represented by former solicitor general of the United States Ted Olson, objected in particular to the leagues’ arguments that legalisation would see sports betting increase, lead to match-fixing and damage their reputation: “Each of these theories is speculative, implausible, and counterfactual, and the Leagues advanced no evidence that would allow a factfinder to conclude that any of them imminently will occur as a result of New Jersey’s legalization of sports wagering.”

The memorandum also argued that PASPA, a federal ban on sports betting excluding only Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana which was passed in 1992, is unconstitutional. It says: “The Tenth Amendment, under established precedent, does not permit the federal government to “commandeer” state legislative and enforcement functions in such a manner.”

The Garden State plans to begin accepting applications for sports betting licences from 9 January 2013 and has also published regulations. These regulations contain no provisions for online or mobile wagering, but New Jersey Senator Raymond Lesniak still hopes to see his egaming bill passed in the state next year.

Analysing Delaware’s market potential

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eGR NA examines H2 Gambling Capital data to understand the potential of the market in Delaware, the only US state to legalise online slots and table games

Historically Delaware has generally been supportive of land-based gambling. However the emphasis has always been on raising funds via the state owned lottery rather than a competitive commercial market, with the exception of horse racing. In addition it is one of the four states which is exempt from the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) ban on sports betting. The current sports product offering is run by the lottery under a contact with Scientific Games and BrandyWine.

Prior to 2010, residents could gamble on lottery games including sports, video lottery terminals (VLTs), harness/thoroughbred racing and simulcasting. In 2010 casino tables were permitted at racetracks under ownership of the lottery. The lottery is state owned but management is contracted to Scientific Games.

The Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 was signed into law in 29 June by Governor Jack Markell. Delaware is the first state to legalise online casino gambling and the second to allow poker after Nevada. The law allows the state lottery to retain its monopoly on traditional lottery and allows for the lottery to expand into online gaming products alongside the three privately owned racetrack casinos. The new law expressly allows compacts for pooled liquidity with other legalized jurisdictions. The tax structure for the commercial casinos is effectively 50% of GGY.

Delaware is the sixth smallest state in America with population of just over 907,000. Due to its size it is a long way from having a large enough population to reach a critical mass in terms of games where pooled liquidity is a driving factor, such as poker, bingo, casino jackpots and exchanges. Due to this, H2 expects a large proportion of players and gross gambling yield to remain offshore, as the attraction of larger sites offering bigger prizes and game level variety will be too much for many to resist.

H2 forecasts the combined size of poker and casino under a commercially regulated market could reach US$19.2m by year three, growing to $20.9m by the fifth year. However under the current anti-competitive monopoly structure the market will be unlikely to reach 70% of this, with a reduced overall market potential due to the lack of a supplier lead demand, and some further loss of players to offshore sites without the competitive nature of a commercial market to keep them onshore.

It should be noted that as other states such as New Jersey look to legalise online gambling, state compacts might emerge allowing for pooled liquidity. Under this scenario it would be an obvious choice for Delaware, along with other surrounding states, to enter into a compact with New Jersey due to the proximity. This would improve the onshore market size through increased prize funds and game level availability, though lack of commercial competition would still limit overall gross gambling yield.

Should all products be available online in the future, H2 forecasts, assuming a fair and balanced market, sports betting would account for 53% of the market gross gambling yield followed by casino with 22%, poker with 19% and bingo with 6%.

H2 has built up an in-depth state-by-state and product-by-product model which values the market potential of the 50 US states under a number of scenarios taking in to account a large number of factors such as GDP, technology penetration, taxation and products. In addition to the gross value of the market it has a number of other key KPI’s – users can run any permutation of states and products. A similar model is available for the Canadian provinces.

Our recent report, ‘The Land of eGaming Opportunity’ has a comprehensive look into the issues surrounding the opening of an interactive market both at state and Federal level. Furthermore H2 currently tracks dotcom poker operators in depth using its proprietary software and will look to include California operators as and when they go live.

 

Sports groups file lawsuit to block New Jersey sports betting

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Five associations sue state officials – claim proposed gambling bill would “threaten integrity” of sports

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has joined forces with four major professional sports to file a lawsuit in an attempt to block New Jersey politicians from allowing sports betting at the state’s 12 casinos and race tracks.

The National Basketball Association, the Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Hockey League and the NCAA filed the suit on Tuesday. The associations argue that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s (pictured) sports betting proposals violate the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (Paspa), which permits sports betting in only four states including Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware.

The lawsuit states: “This is an action challenging New Jersey’s plan to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license, and authorise gambling on amateur and professional sports, in clear and flagrant violation of federal law.”

“Gambling on amateur and professional sports threatens the integrity of those sports and is fundamentally at odds with the principle . . . that the outcomes of collegiate and professional athletic contests must be determined . . . solely on the basis of honest athletic competition.”

Senator Raymond Lesniak has been working to overturn New Jersey’s exclusion from sports betting regulation since early 2009 and said he welcomes the lawsuit. Lesniak said the sooner the lawsuit is overturned “the quicker we’ll be able to start sports betting in New Jersey.”
Christie wishes to legalise sports betting to help reinvigorate the city’s ailing land-based gambling industry. He signed a sports betting bill in January, but it was believed that before implementing it, the state would try to overturn Paspa. Christie, however said the regulations his administration would issue next week are not intended to overturn this ban.

“If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us,” Christie told reporters in May. “Am I expecting there may be legal action taken against us to prevent it? Yes. But I have every confidence we’re going to be successful.”

David Deitch, attorney with Washington D.C. based Ifrah Law, said the sports leagues would struggle to get a judge to give them a preliminary injunction because they will not be able to prove they will suffer “irreparable harm” if New Jersey is permitted to authorise sports betting.

“If the many thousands of dollars bet on sporting contests already in Las Vegas and elsewhere is acceptable, how is the addition of sports betting in New Jersey going to somehow undermine the integrity of sports?” he said.

“The sports leagues’ complaint also faces a serious obstacle in that the enforcement of Paspa here would violate the US Constitution – both because of its unequal treatment of different states and the way in which it impermissibly intrudes into the powers that the Constitution reserves to the individual states.”

California Senate approves sportsbetting bill

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Senator Roderick Wright’s SB 1390 passes 32-2, heads to Assembly vote

 

A bill that could pave the way for sportsbetting in California has been approved by the state Senate.

 

Senator Roderick Wright’s bill, which passed with a majority of 32-2 and will progress to the state Assembly, would allow casinos and horseracing tracks which already possess gambling licences to obtain a state permit to provide sports betting.

 

The bill would also allow all federally recognised Indian tribes to conduct sportsbetting on their lands under the same terms as for other operators in the state.

 

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (Paspa) of 1992 prohibits these wagers in all states except Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana, but Wright, who is also sponsoring a bill authorising online gambling in the state, said he expects this federal law “will be amended” in the future.

 

He said: “When this law is changed, and we believe it will be, you want California to be in the position to move forward with this.”

 

Many Californians bet legally through sports betting operations in Nevada, where US$2.6bn is wagered on sports every year, or illegally, through offshore sites. “We receive absolutely no money from it,” Wright said.

 

During the floor vote, there were no comments from the bill’s opponents, which include the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion and the California Police Chiefs Association.

 

Last week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has already signed a sports betting bill, said he would ignore the federal ban and allow sports betting in the state this fall.