The FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack was electric on Sunday, as hundreds of sports betting enthusiasts streamed in for a full day of NFL action.

Sure, there are plenty of other sports bars in the area with multiple TVs and enthusiastic fans, but at FanDuel Sportsbook I witnessed more passion over more games than I have ever seen outside of Las Vegas.

That’s why my big takeaway was the two words “if only.” It’s a shame that November 4 and December 9 are the only other NFL regular-season Sundays where hopeful bettors can show up, hassle-free, to the racetrack for no parking fee and no entrance fee.

(With the Giants having a 4:25 home game next week against the Saints, if you arrive to the sportsbook well before the 11:25 a.m. “curfew,” you might be fine.)

The main sportsbook, the auxiliary version to the far right of the entrance, and the up-the-escalator sports lounge were teeming with patrons mid-Sunday afternoon. Fans were lined up five or six deep at one main screen area, the sports bar seats all were filled, and in either of the first-floor sites, the challenge was to claim a standing spot that didn’t impede anyone’s view.

(And it didn’t hurt attendance that FanDuel just paid out an $82,000 ticket on a computer glitch and drummed up a lot of publicity for both its benevolence and its exploitable lines.)

Commotion, conversation, and camaraderie
The fact that all of the passionate NFL betting/viewing action took place just yards away from the Meadowlands Racetrack backstretch was striking. From the upstairs lounge, a profanity-fond bettor on the Saints exhorted them to win — they did, eventually — as he watched them score an early fourth-quarter touchdown before he made a victory lap around the floor. If he had looked back, he would have had a good view of the dormant racetrack on a Sunday.

Downstairs, one bettor near the bar mentioned to his pal that he had the Bills “plus 30.5.” A seated patron, who was with his wife or lady friend, seemed befuddled.

“Live bet,” the man said, pointing at his cell phone — meaning that he made an app bet mid-game that the Bills, after a red-hot start and a 27-0 lead, would finish with at least 31 points.

“Oh,” said the patron, “Go Buffalo!”

The Bills did not score a second-half point, alas, in coasting to a 27-6 win. But at least there was camaraderie.

That fellowship turned out to be similar to what the horse racing simulcasting regulars — who showed up in full force at the track on Sunday while betting in between the two main sports betting books — have done for years. That is, empathize with a stranger who also just howled at the “bad beat” in the same event, or strike up a conversation with some fellows who clearly were talking about the same upcoming race.

That’s what I saw at the sportsbooks Sunday. There’s was even some of the “if you think that’s bad, check out my losing ticket!” approach that consoles horse players who will settle for telling a story about the more brutal loss.

The crescendo at a racetrack is down the backstretch, as patient bettors all over realize that they have a chance to strike it rich. This vibe was different: one exhortation after another, with no 15-minute wait between crescendos, but until the very end, no definitive wins or losses, either.

Why not every Sunday?
As much as the sportsbooks and upstairs lounge were hopping, there were still plenty of places to park and enough room for everyone. So the day was a success. (And frankly, you can have fun even if you’re not a gambler nor even a football fan. It is fascinating people-watching.)

So why can’t this happen every Sunday?

The Meadowlands proved to be an ideal site for a sports complex when it opened in 1976 with the Meadowlands Racetrack and Giants Stadium debuting just a few weeks apart. An arena that would become home to the NBA Nets and NHL Devils came along just five years later.

And now? The location is even more accessible to more fans, thanks to a rail link from Secaucus Junction a few miles away and bus service from New York City that has been figured out over the years.

On NFL Sundays with a home game, however — which, thanks to both the Giants and Jets playing there, is almost every Sunday — there is very limited access to the nearby sportsbook.

I took the train from Secaucus for Week 1, and it’s $18.25 on an NFL Sunday to park there and take the roundtrip train — plus if you want to also stay for the end of the 4 p.m. games you may have to scramble for transportation back. (If you get stuck in that boat, ask the staff; help may be available.) There are other options, like getting dropped off at nearby Redd’s in Carlstadt and paying $10 for a roundtrip shuttle to the sportsbook. But for a lot of bettors, it’s a turnoff not to be able to simply drive your own car, park, and come and go as you please.

To be fair to the NFL teams, managing parking space is a serious challenge. The sports complex charges $30 for parking and $100 and up per ticket for the games. Even with the convenience of the train option, the home teams have to handle 20,000 or so vehicles each game day. Any additional traffic that would be caused by sportsbook drivers would compound frustration for those fans who are paying good money, so of course the local teams are leery of that.

Any solution in sight?
Is there no hope? Well, having covered this sports complex since 2002, some context is needed. The original grandstand — which became the mecca of harness racing worldwide for decades — closed five years ago (it’s still standing, dormant, but that’s a long story).

The original grandstand shared a parking lot with the stadium, given how close they were built together for that very reason.

But the “new” $88M grandstand — built along the old backstretch and opened in 2013 — is much farther away from the new MetLife Stadium for the Giants and Jets.

There is a separate entrance for the new grandstand, along local Paterson Plank Road. Many football fans use that entrance, so would-be racebook visitors who don’t have football-game tickets and arrive after 8 a.m. for a 1 p.m. home gameday, thereby missing the 7 a.m. start of many European soccer games, are turned away.

Recall that the NFL and four other major sports organizations sued the state of New Jersey in 2012 to try to thwart the state from offering just this sort of gambling anywhere in the state. The NBA and MLB seem to have gotten over it, and the NFL has approved the move of the Oakland Raiders to gambling hotbed Las Vegas. So it’s conceivable that with the right business deal, the Giants and Jets could allow sportsbook patrons to enter only on the local road, while either restricting their fans to the many other entrances to the sports complex or figuring out another workable scenario with the parking lot attendees.

We’re not there yet, alas. Maybe next fall — although by then, the 3 million square foot American Dream Meadowlands shopping and entertainment complex should be open for business on Sundays as well.

What could go wrong?

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