Then-Governor Christie signed the legislation in the fall of 2014, and in November 2014, the five sports leagues filed another lawsuit to enjoin the New Jersey law. Instead of affirmatively authorizing sports betting, the new law simply repealed the prior-existing state ban. The New Jersey senate then revised the law. In 2014, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. In 2013, the New Jersey District Court entered an injunction, which the Third Circuit upheld. In 2012, the MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, and the NCAA, later joined by the Department of Justice, sued New Jersey under PASPA to enjoin the state law. NCAA, the Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Alito, ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), which barred states from “authoriz” betting schemes on “competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate,” violated the anti-commandeering principle of the Tenth Amendment.Īfter New Jersey voters overwhelmingly supported the legalization of sports betting in a non-binding 2011 referendum, the state legislature enacted a law authorizing sports betting at racetracks and casinos. The Court’s decision breaks Nevada’s monopoly on sports betting and will empower state legislatures throughout the country to authorize sports books. On May 14, the United States Supreme Court struck down a federal law that effectively prohibited states from legalizing sports betting. Public Services, Infrastructure, Transportation.
