Christie says he was always confident New Jersey would win its six-year legal battle for sports betting



As the keynote speaker Wednesday at the American Gaming Association’s Sports Betting Executive Summit at MGM National Harbor, Christie was introduced by AGA CEO Bill Miller as “the reason why we are all in this room.”

OXON HILL, Maryland – Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took a victory lap of sorts.

As the keynote speaker Wednesday at the American Gaming Association’s Sports Betting Executive Summit at MGM National Harbor, Christie was introduced by AGA CEO Bill Miller as “the reason why we are all in this room.”

Christie was governor when the state began a six-year legal odyssey that resulted in the Supreme Court tossing the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act last May, opening the U.S. to legal sports betting.

By the time the court ruled, Christie’s second term as governor had expired. Still, he felt a source of pride when the justices heard arguments in December 2017, announcing the matter as “Christie vs. NCAA.”

Getting New Jersey’s effort to legalize sports betting in front of the nation’s highest court, Christie said, was always his ultimate goal. He said the matter of allowing New Jersey and other states to legalize and regulate sports betting was a 10th Amendment states rights issue.

“We lost six times in the lower courts, but we knew our view was right on the issue,” Christie said. “We wanted the opportunity to make our argument to people who would listen.”

Christie, who ran unsuccessfully for President in 2016, is currently a legal and political analyst for ABC News and is publicizing his recently-released autobiography, “Let Me Finish.” Copies of the book were purchased by the AGA and distributed to the conference’s 275 attendees.

Christie said the Atlantic City casino industry, which saw gaming revenues tumble more than 52 percent between 2006 and 2014, needed sports betting to compete with both expanded gaming in the northeast and new casinos that opened in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

After Miller dubbed him as the gaming industry’s “ultimate disruptor,” Christie spoke for 45 minutes – without notes or a script – and recounted how New Jersey went about succeeding in its effort. New Jersey voters passed a referendum in favor of legal sports betting and the legislature approved a bill that Christie signed. The legal challenges ensued.

New Jersey was opposed by all four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA.

“We got sued by minor players with very little money and no influence,” Christie joked. He also took steps to hire longtime appellate litigator Ted Olson to represent New Jersey.

Olson, a former U.S. Solicitor General, “had argued 62 cases in front of the Supreme Court and had a .750 winning percentage,” Christie said, using baseball reference for a high batting average.

Christie said that he felt confident following the Supreme Court hearing.

“It was pretty clear to everyone in the courtroom which way it was going,” Christie said. “We were winning, and we were going to win by more than five votes.”

However, in the months leading up to the hearing, Christie said he was unsuccessful in getting other U.S. governors – even his fellow Republican governors – to file legal briefs in support of the New Jersey case. At the time, he was chairman of the National Governors Association.

“We weren’t arguing for sports gambling,” Christie said. “We were arguing for a right to let a state determine what happens in their own state.”

In the 10 months since the ruling, seven states – Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and New Mexico – have joined Nevada in allowing casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting facilities. Almost two dozen other states are in various stages of legislation to allow sports betting.

With the activity less than a year old, Christie said New Jersey has “blown away everything we projected by more than double.” He added that the state’s largest neighbors for competition, New York and Pennsylvania, are still somewhat on the sidelines.

“New York can’t get its act together and Pennsylvania created too high of a tax structure,” he said.

However, with several bills floating around Congress for federal intervention into sports betting, Christie said states need to create “an appropriate regulatory scheme” to keep Congress at bay.

“If some state has a big scandal or screws up regulations, the feds will come in and screw this up for everyone,” Christie said.

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.

This article is a reprint from CDCGamingReports.com.   To view the original story and comment, click here


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