New Jersey files response to sports leagues' litigation

The US national sports leagues’ request for a court injunction against New Jersey’s new laws permitting sports betting at intrastate racetracks and casinos (see previous reports) has been quickly opposed by the New Jersey Attorney General’s office, the state’s thoroughbred horsemen, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

These organisations all filed motions in federal court late Wednesday night opposing the attempt by the NFL and four other sports organisations to obtain a temporary restraining order preventing Monmouth Park from offering sports betting on Sunday.

New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman wrote that the leagues last year claimed that a 1992 law passed by Congress does not require New Jersey to maintain its sports betting prohibitions. Yet the leagues now say, Hoffman added, that the new state law facilitating such an approach is unconstitutional even though it privatises sports betting.

Representing the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, Peter Torcicollo noted that the Authority was merely Monmouth Park’s landlord, and has no control over its operations or activities.

“The Authority would not authorize, license or regulate it….and ceased all day-to-day operation and control over Monmouth Park in December 2011,” he advised.

Ron Riccio, legal representative for the thoroughbred industry, warned that as far as the Oceanport racetrack was concerned, any delays in implementing the new sports betting law would cause real commercial harm to the enterprise, which expects 10,000 bettors to turn up and gamble next Sunday.

He added that a permanent injunction against permitting sports wagering would be a “death knell” for the state’s thoroughbred horse racing industry.