Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation that will allow New Jersey’s 9 casinos and 3 racetracks to take wagers on individual sporting events beginning this Thursday. Gamblers 21 and over will be able to place wagers on a variety of professional and college sporting events, though betting on games involving local college teams (think: Seton Hall, Rutgers) and college games played within the state is prohibited. Initially, wagers will have to be placed in person; though, mobile betting is covered by the bill and will commence in the future (requires licensees to wait 30 days). The William Hill (WIMHY) sportsbook at Monmouth Park Racetrack will begin taking bets at 10:30a on Thursday, just in time for the start of the World Cup later that afternoon. New Jersey becomes just the third state to offer legalized sports betting, following Nevada and Delaware.
Howie Long-Short: Another one of New Jersey’s racetracks, the Meadowlands Racetrack, has found a sports betting partner in Betfair U.S. (subsidiary of Paddy Power Betfair, PDYPY). PDYPY revealed it has signed “long-term agreements for retail and online/mobile sports betting” with the North Jersey track (and Tioga Downs in New York); they plan to begin taking bets later this summer. The news comes just two weeks after the company announced it would be acquiring FanDuel, with the intention of converting their 1.3 million DFS players into true sports bettors. It’s expected that Betfair will brand their U.S. sportsbooks as FanDuel sportsbooks. PDYPY shares are up 11% (to $58.35) since word of the deal first broke on May 15th.
Fan Marino: Monmouth Park officials aren’t satisfied with SCOTUS’ decision to overturn PASPA, they’re now pursuing remuneration for damages caused by the pro sports leagues and the NCAA. The New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (leases Monmouth Park) claims “the leagues acted in bad faith” fighting them in court, while simultaneously profiting from DFS and authorizing the relocation of several franchises to Las Vegas (nullifying the integrity argument). They’re pursuing +/- $150 million in “revenues we would have had” (from sports betting), between the period of October 2014 – June 2018, had the leagues not opposed their efforts. It must be noted that neither Delaware nor New Jersey included an integrity fee for the leagues in their sports betting legislation.
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