Bet on Monmouth Park To Be First

Only time will tell if yesterday’s decision by the Supreme Court of the United States is really the savior of Monmouth Park, the horse racing industry in New Jersey and taxpayers in the state as well.

However one thing we do know is the racetrack in Oceanport will be the first place to accept legal sports betting outside of Nevada and Delaware and that could happen in just a couple of weeks.

Monday the high court struck down the federal law passed in 1992 which basically banned betting on sports across the United States with the exception of four states…Nevada, Delaware, Montana & Oregon.  The last two don’t have active sports betting and Delaware’s is currently very limited which basically left the entire pie to Nevada and of course Las Vegas.

The ruling yesterday means it’s up to individual states to decide what they want to do and we know that’s a winning decision for New Jersey which led the charge to have the 26-year old ban lifted and for now will limit betting on sports to racetracks and casinos.

That’s great news for Monmouth Park which has already partnered with William Hill, the British betting giant, and built a sports bar which will quickly transform into a sports book and likely be ready to take bets as early as the start of the NBA Finals.  Atlantic City casinos and the Meadowlands racetrack will follow in weeks and months to come and surely be ready for the start of football season.

While Monmouth Park and New Jersey will get the jump on everyone other states will quickly follow including New York and Pennsylvania.  And while sports betting in our state will start off only at racetracks and casinos don’t expect that to last long, mobile and online wagering will follow.

There are still hurdles and its possible Congress will now enter the picture and set up guidelines and policies to protect sports leagues like the NFL who insist they are opposed.  In truth everyone just wants to make sure they get their share of the billions of dollars expected to be in play.

By the way in full disclosure I have opposed sports betting in the past and have mixed feelings because like with casino gambling people are going to lose money they don’t have and it’s going to be made very easy for them to do so.  However there is nothing stopping what will be a tidal wave and its building right now.