June 14, 2018

Game on! N.J. sports betting kicks off with Phil Murphy wager

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Now you can bet on sports in New Jersey as the state’s seven-year fight officially comes to an end.

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You can now legally bet on sports, New Jersey.  

Sports betting in the Garden State officially kicked off Thursday morning with Gov. Phil Murphy casting the first wager at a ceremony at Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport.

“I’m betting $20 on Germany to win the World Cup, and $20 on the New Jersey Devils to win Lord Stanley’s cup,” Murphy said before placing the bet at about 10:33 a.m.

The Massachusetts native assured the crowd that he would not bet on his home-town Boston Red Sox or on whether the Mets would win another game. 

What he did bet on makes sense. Murphy is a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and a massive soccer fan. And the Devils are the last major pro team with New Jersey in its name.

Betting was also slated to begin later in the morning at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, and will go online within 30 days.

The state’s other race tracks and casinos also have future plans to offer sports betting. 

You have to be 21 or older to place a wager.

Thursday officially brought an end to New Jersey’s seven-year, $9 million court battle to institute legal sports betting in the face of fierce opposition from major professional and college sports leagues.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled ruled last month that a federal ban on such wagering was unconstitutional, allowing states across the U.S. to allow it.

Until now, only Nevada — home to Las Vegas — had full-scale legal sports betting. New Jersey is the second state to launch since the court’s ruling, after Delaware last week.

All you need to know about sports betting in N.J.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people trekked to Monmouth Park on a work-week morning for the historic event. They lined up to place bets at counters located in the track’s main hallways and inside a special sports-betting parlor.

Monmouth Park had become the face of the state’s battle, having spent millions on the case and to build its parlor with British bookmaker William Hill.

“It’s a euphoric day,” track operator Dennis Drazin said. “I always knew we’d get here. Every time we had a defeat, we found another angle.”

Former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, the man who helped lead the fight for years, was also on hand — decked in a New York Giants hat and France soccer jersey. The World Cup started Thursday. 

“It was a long fight, with the odds against us,” Lesniak, a Union County Democrat, told the crowd. “But New Jersey spirit and determination prevailed.”

State Assemblyman Ralph Caputo compared the feeling Thursday to when Atlantic City opened casinos in 1978.

“Its a watershed moment,” Caputo, D-Essex, said.

Murphy alluded to the adage “bet with your head, not with your heart”

“We knew in our heads we were right,” he said. “And we knew in our hearts that we would win. And we did.”

The new governor also thanked both Lesniak and former Gov. Chris Christie, whose administration spearheaded the case for seven years before Murphy took over in January. Christie was invited to the ceremony but did not attend.

New Jersey hopes sports betting will boost the state’s struggling casino and horse-racing industries, as well as provide the state with new tax revenue.

State officials predict about $13 million in tax revenue the first year. Murphy said during a radio interview on WCBS 880-AM on Thursday morning that that figure is “a lot more modest than people would have guessed.”

“We’ll take it, by the way,” the governor added. “We could use every penny.” 

Murphy also hopes the betting will attract visitors who’ll spend a weekend in the area for major sporting events, spending money on hotels, restaurants, and shopping. 

Daniel Wallach, a sports gaming expert, said “year one” will be a challenge, but New Jersey “has a chance to do better than expected.”

That’s largely because Pennsylvania may not be ready to launch sports betting until football season and New York lawmakers are still considering legislation. 

“This is a golden opportunity for New Jersey,” Wallach said. 

Joe Porcelli, a 65-year-old Hoboken resident, said he never bet before because he’s an attorney and he wanted to avoid illegal bookies. But on Thursday, he was at Monmouth Park.

“Hopefully, they’ll get a lot of people like me who wouldn’t have bet before,” said Porcelli, who was dressed in a New York Red Bulls golf shirt and placed bets on Portugal, Belgium, and Argentina each to win the World Cup.

Charles Rutkowski, a 32-year-old Neptune resident, had off from work, so he showed up to place bets on future Yankees games — while carrying his 10-month-old son Conor.

Rutkowski said he isn’t normally a Monmouth Park customer.

“I’ll probably come more now,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of horse-racing. This is a little more appealing to me.”

As for what’s next? The NFL is pushing for Congress to adopt national regulations for sports betting. 

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey has introduced legislation to update national gambling rules and consumer protections.

“I think it’s necessary to update the way we deal with gaming on the federal level,” said Pallone, D-6th Dist., who represents the district where Monmouth Park is located. “New Jersey serves as an example. 

NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

 
 
 



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