https://www.google.com/amp/s/articl...st_on_nj_sports_betting_starting_memorial.amp
Hold onto your bets, sports fans.
Monmouth Park's plan to become the first place in New Jersey to offer legalized sports betting on May 28 -- Memorial Day -- has hit a wall, NJ Advance Media has learned.
The bill that state Senate President Stephen Sweeney introduced this week to regulate sports betting at the state's casinos and racetracks comes with this caveat:
Anyone who opens a sports betting operation before the state puts regulations in place will be barred from accepting future bets on games.
That means Monmouth Park, the Oceanport racetrack that had announced plans to take bets by Memorial Day, will have to wait.
"We just got the decision," Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said Wednesday in a phone interview, referring to Monday's U.S. Supreme Court opening the door to legal sports betting across the country.
"We're moving quickly with legislation. I'm hopeful we should be ready by early June. Everyone should respect the legislative process rather than jumping out."
"We fought for this for seven years," Sweeney added. "I'm anxious to get started just like everyone else."
How long will N.J. sports betting monopoly on the East Coast last?
Dennis Drazin, Monmouth Park's operator, told NJ Advance Media he wasn't aware of that provision in Sweeney's bill but that he will not challenge it.
"I have not spoken to the Senate president yet," Drazin said. "But I have said all along and I have said to the Senate president that I would go along with the legislative process. So I would comply."
Drazin has said a previous state law permitting New Jersey casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting without state regulation would allow Monmouth Park to begin accepting bets immediately.
But Drazin added he would not move forward if Gov. Phil Murphy or state lawmakers told him to hold off. Sweeney initially said he wouldn't top the track.
The bill ( S2602 ) he introduced Monday, though, says state regulators will not issue a licenses to operate a sports bool "to any person that operated a sports pool within one year prior to the enactment of this act."
That would disqualify Monmouth Park if the track began accepting bets before the regulations become law.
A spokesman for Murphy's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin , D-Middlesex -- the other leader of the state Legislature -- declined comment.
Sweeney stressed the regulations could come soon.
He said his goal is to have them passed by the Senate's June 7 voting session. The Assembly is set to vote again May 24.
Each house has its own bill to regulate sports betting, with a few differences between them. Lawmakers are currently discussing making the measures identical.
The houses must agree on one bill before Murphy can sign it into law -- which he said he plan to do.
Sweeney said he does not see a "prolonged fight" over the matter.
"This is going to move quick," he said.
Hold onto your bets, sports fans.
Monmouth Park's plan to become the first place in New Jersey to offer legalized sports betting on May 28 -- Memorial Day -- has hit a wall, NJ Advance Media has learned.
The bill that state Senate President Stephen Sweeney introduced this week to regulate sports betting at the state's casinos and racetracks comes with this caveat:
Anyone who opens a sports betting operation before the state puts regulations in place will be barred from accepting future bets on games.
That means Monmouth Park, the Oceanport racetrack that had announced plans to take bets by Memorial Day, will have to wait.
"We just got the decision," Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said Wednesday in a phone interview, referring to Monday's U.S. Supreme Court opening the door to legal sports betting across the country.
"We're moving quickly with legislation. I'm hopeful we should be ready by early June. Everyone should respect the legislative process rather than jumping out."
"We fought for this for seven years," Sweeney added. "I'm anxious to get started just like everyone else."
How long will N.J. sports betting monopoly on the East Coast last?
Dennis Drazin, Monmouth Park's operator, told NJ Advance Media he wasn't aware of that provision in Sweeney's bill but that he will not challenge it.
"I have not spoken to the Senate president yet," Drazin said. "But I have said all along and I have said to the Senate president that I would go along with the legislative process. So I would comply."
Drazin has said a previous state law permitting New Jersey casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting without state regulation would allow Monmouth Park to begin accepting bets immediately.
But Drazin added he would not move forward if Gov. Phil Murphy or state lawmakers told him to hold off. Sweeney initially said he wouldn't top the track.
The bill ( S2602 ) he introduced Monday, though, says state regulators will not issue a licenses to operate a sports bool "to any person that operated a sports pool within one year prior to the enactment of this act."
That would disqualify Monmouth Park if the track began accepting bets before the regulations become law.
A spokesman for Murphy's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin , D-Middlesex -- the other leader of the state Legislature -- declined comment.
Sweeney stressed the regulations could come soon.
He said his goal is to have them passed by the Senate's June 7 voting session. The Assembly is set to vote again May 24.
Each house has its own bill to regulate sports betting, with a few differences between them. Lawmakers are currently discussing making the measures identical.
The houses must agree on one bill before Murphy can sign it into law -- which he said he plan to do.
Sweeney said he does not see a "prolonged fight" over the matter.
"This is going to move quick," he said.
