A New Jersey racetrack operator has laid into his state’s attempts to introduce legislation allowing online casino gambling inside the state’s lines. Jeff Gural, operator of Meadowlands Racetrack, told NorthJersey.com the bill passed by the state Assembly yesterday is “outrageous” and recommended that it be renamed the “Casino Worker Unemployment Act”. This is because, according to Gural, it will cost casino jobs as well as harm a horse racing industry that is already reeling from allowing bettors to wager on horse races online.
In order to stop the declines Gural has already committed to building a scaled down grandstand to attract a younger audience and this year oversaw the opening of Winners Bayonne off-track-betting facility – which he called “gorgeous”. If Gural looks at other countries with strong online gambling industries he will see that venues have to diversify their offerings and then wait to see the pay off. He’s already started off this process and Gural is forgetting that a bill to allow single-game sports betting in the Garden State could be just round the corner.
As for that bill, we will get news later on today as to whether there will be a temporary delay to proceedings. The single-game sports betting bill is set to come into force next month and today’s hearing will decide if the sports leagues can challenge New Jersey’s effort to introduce the legislation. U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp will listen to arguments about whether the leagues have standing to bring their challenge. The main question asked relates to whether sports leagues are actually harmed by the expansion of legal betting on games. David Purdum, of DavidPurdumSports.com, tweeted earlier that a Trenton court reporter has stated the oral arguments will begin at 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. GMT), with a decision being made once the judge has heard from each league in turn.
