Ex- Mets and Yankees star makes sports betting pitch to N.J. lawmakers

Al Leiter was in Trenton on Thursday to lobby with pro sports leagues, NJ Advance Media learned.

A group of professional sports leagues brought a special guest to Trenton on Thursday in the midst of of an increasingly tense debate over how legal sports betting will unfold in New Jersey:

Former Mets and Yankees star pitcher Al Leiter.

Leiter, a New Jersey native, joined representatives from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the Professional Golfers Association to lobby lawmakers at the Statehouse for the leagues to have a say — and a cut of the revenue — once sports betting begins here, NJ Advance Media learned.

The leagues have run into fierce opposition from state Senate President Stephen Sweeney and other state lawmakers, who have chastised them for seeking money after suing the state for seven years to stop such wagering at its casinos and racetracks.

Sweeney, New Jersey’s top lawmaker, has called the leagues’ push for a so-called “integrity fee” an attempt to “extort” money now that the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with the state.

Sweeney urges states to refuse giving ‘extortion’ money to leagues

The court last week overturned a 1992 federal ban on sports betting, opening the door for states across the country to enact it. New Jersey lawmakers are rushing to pass legislation by June 7 to get a jump on other states and begin collecting tax revenue from it.

The leagues are asking states around the country for 1 percent or less of the total amount wagered on all sports games in each state.

Leiter, a two-time All-Star who grew up in Toms River and resides with his family in Summit, visited New Jersey a month after making a similar trip to Connecticut to lobby lawmakers.

The left-hander — who retired from playing in 2005 and is now a broadcaster for MLB Network — made an unannounced visit early Thursday and was not available for comment.

But Leiter told reporters in Connecticut last month that there’s “got to be some regulation and some people watching to make sure that everything is done properly and maintain the integrity of the respective sport.”

“Every player knows the severity that if you bet on your sport, it is a death penalty,” Leiter, 52, added, according to a report by the Hartford Courant. “You know the story about Pete Rose, certainly the Black Sox and Shoeless Joe Jackson.”

Leiter was considered a possible Republican contender for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2013.

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said he did not meet with the leagues. Nor did state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, the state’s second-highest-ranking lawmaker.

Instead, Leiter and the leagues met with sponsors of the sports betting legislation still being ironed out.

Regardless, Sweeney told NJ Advance Media on Thursday he’s not backing down from his stance that New Jersey won’t give the leagues a cent in the bill.

“I think I made my position real clear,” he said in a phone interview. “I can’t be any more firm where I’m at.”

“They really have a lot of nerve,” Sweeney added. “They’re not changing my position. They sued us, they lost, and now they want a piece of the action. It’s ridiculous.”

Sweeney is also exploring whether the state can sue the leagues for legal fees and back tax revenue.

Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, a sponsor of the legislation, said he wasn’t moved after meeting with the leagues Tuesday.

“I always listen. I have an open mind,” Caputo, D-Essex, said. “But this time, I agree with Sen. Sweeney 1,000 percent. I don’t think leagues are entitled to any integrity fee.”

Caputo said he’s also “not convinced” the leagues should have a say in how sports betting is regulated here.

The leagues say the fees would help them pay for increased monitoring games to make sure there is no cheating now that betting is being legalized across the U.S.

The leagues also want to form a coalition with sports betting operators and states to make sure proper data is shared and consumer protections are in place — such as age limits and rules about teams.

“We continue to engage with legislators to discuss a partnership with New Jersey that contains strong protections that safeguard our sport and will help ensure the success of sports betting in New Jersey,” Major League Baseball said in a statement Wednesday.

The National Football League, the National Hockey League, and the NCAA — the other leagues that sued the state — were not on hand Thursday.

It’s no surprise that Sweeney wouldn’t be swayed by Leiter. The Senate president is a Cincinnati Reds fan — and Mets fans remember how Leiter pitched a two-hit shutout against the Reds to win a one-game playoff to reach the postseason in 1999.