With two of the world’s biggest casinos in Connecticut, slot parlors opening in Pennsylvania, and more gambling likely in New York and Maryland, Atlantic City really needs something besides blackjack and slots to attract gamblers. For years, I’ve said that sports betting would be a natural. Unfortunately, Congress doesn’t think so, but at last–thanks to competition from Philly–some New Jersey legislators might be coming around. From the AC Press:
The idea of allowing sports betting in Atlantic City has been tossed around for years. But with the recent announcement that casinos are slated to open in Philadelphia by 2008 — and with two slot parlors already up and running outside the city — some feel that in order for Atlantic City to stay ahead of the competition, betting on sporting events should be permitted.
Atlantic City casino executives and state legislators have expressed fear that the new Philadelphia slot parlors would lure thousands of gamblers away from town.
State Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, continues to push for a referendum to bring sports betting to the resort.
Such a move, though, would take more than what Donald Trump would need to get Vera Coking to sell her home or New Jersey Democrats to agree on a budget in a timely fashion.
It would take an act of Congress. And Congress already seems to have its mind made up.
A federal law passed in 1993 allows sports betting in only four states: Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon. New Jersey was given the opportunity by the federal government to legalize sports betting, but the state failed to do so before a federal deadline, largely due to opposition led by former Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley.
Unlike Bradley, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, is in favor of allowing wagers on sporting events in Atlantic City. Jason Galanes, a spokesperson for LoBiondo, said Thursday that the congressman is supportive of bringing sports betting to Atlantic City and would pursue the necessary legislative action in Congress — that is, if the state would act first and “if they are serious about it.”
Van Drew is very serious about it. He introduced a bill last January that would have placed a sports-betting referendum on the ballot this past November. Van Drew said the bill is important to the city and to the region because the revenue generators of the future are in “shopping, retail and expanding tourism gambling.”
“(Sports betting) brings in another type of gambler, another type of customer, someone who is not only trying to gamble, but also to shop, dine and go to shows,” Van Drew said Friday. “It is extremely crucial for everyone to understand that the future of Atlantic City is not in slot machines.”
The bill was approved in February by the Assembly’s Tourism and Gaming Committee, of which Van Drew is chairman. However, the bill failed to make it out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The bill has been opposed by state Sen. Bill Gormley and Assemblyman Frank Blee, both R-Atlantic.