If only it was this easy to pick winners at the track, I would be rich. Once again the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 2-1 margin that New Jersey's latest attempt to circumvent the restrictions of the Professional and Amateurs Sports Protection Act of 1992 which outlawed sports wagering.
This is the second time in two years the state has suffered a defeat in this court. After the first rejection and an opinion which indicated if the state didn't regulate sports wagering, the restrictions of PASPA wouldn't have applied. The state argued this time that NJ no longer regulated sports wagering thus making it legal for racetracks and casinos to offer wagering, an argument which fell flat with 2 of the 3 justices. The court found that by still banning wagering on New Jersey sports teams and colleges and relieving only certain parties from regulation, the state still regulated sports wagering.
The state can ask for a hearing by all 23 judges of the 3rd circuit which is unlikely. Failing a move to get the entire court to hear the case, the state may petition the U.S. Supreme Court once again to take on the case which it refused to hear last year.
Until the federal government is (if) so moved to change the provisions of PASPA, which will only occur if the leagues are cut in for a share of the profits, telling casinos and racetracks to hold on for sports wagering is like asking them to reach out for the proverbial brass ring; something which will remain unattainable.
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