I guess that gambling on sports is OK after all. At least as long as the proceeds can be used to help fill State coffers. We attended the recent sports betting hearing in Atlantic City and I gave a presentation to eight New Jersey senators who are looking to add sports betting at Atlantic City casinos and racetracks in an effort to prop up both faltering industries. The meeting emphasized one thing for sure, New Jersey is going full bore after this one and any opposition had better have thick skin.

The NJ Senate held a public hearing on Monday that was, as expected, lightly attended. After all it was the day after Easter Sunday AND it the eve of the NCAA Championship game. Neither of those conditions are going to get gamblers out of bed at 11AM to listen and add their views.

Still, in addition to our testimony, the side for adding sports betting was well represented. Industry advocates included Joe Brennan from the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), the Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce, the local unions and the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association. All testimony was well received by the Senators, who all appeared in favor of the bill.

Though our own testimony revolved around the fact that the government should be insuring the safety of its citizens and offer regulated Internet Gaming and sports betting, the bulk of the testimony went after two things that are certainly hot button items in any state – jobs and revenue.

It appears that several other states are hopping on the sports betting and Internet gambling bandwagons. Now that New Jersey is making waves with its potential law changes, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and other states have bandied about the idea that all of this gambling is not bad, but instead is a revenue source. Washington Democrat Jim McDermott has brought the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (HR 4976) back with several new amendments and the American Gaming Association (AGA) has even changed its stance. The AGA has now come out publicly this week with the statement that it is “open to the concept of legalized US gambling sites.”

Perhaps, as I stated in Atlantic City, it is because the Internet gambling industries in many of these remote places are big business for those areas. In some countries, such as Costa Rica, Malta and Antigua, online gambling companies employ thousands of people and are actual industries, contributing to the country’s GDP. And, in places that do real regulation, a huge tax revenue is generated from online gambling companies.

Apparently, Senator Ray Lesniak has made the leap from the current prohibitions to the realization that, since New Jersey is already the Vegas of the East Coast, this industry would fit all of the necessary criteria for moving his agenda forward. Lesniak said at the hearing: “I continue to find it ridiculous that adults in New Jersey and 45 other states cannot legally bet on sporting events, while citizens in four states essentially maintain a monopoly on legal sports betting.”

He was quite vehement to opposition presentations and at one point made every head in the room turn. That was when he stoically questioned Joseph Tyrell, representing Harrah’s. Tyrell said that Harrah’s was in opposition to the bill! He claimed that this bill would give voters ‘false hope’ and that they would be voting for something that is currently illegal. Lesniak hit the roof raising his voice, while causing quite a stir during the otherwise subdued proceedings. “Are you saying that I have introduced legislation that is illegal?”, Lesniak asked. He went on to say that the voters of New Jersey are ‘not stupid’.

If you use your corporate BS to reality translator, you can see that Harrah’s is basically saying that they do not want to extend any of their vast political capital when NJ still has to defeat the Federal Government in a PASPA suit. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is really at the crux of the entire sports betting legal situation. As recently as last year, the court upheld PASPA, even restricting it further in the case against Delaware. If Senator Lesniak is successful in overturning PASPA, you can guarantee that Harrah’s will suddenly jump on the bandwagon.

The NFL, as expected, played the PASPA card. In addition, Representative Tim McDonough offered up the usual rhetoric on ‘integrity of the game’. He went on to say that the game of football was not created for betting purposes and that this would do nothing to ‘take street level bookies off the street’. He went so far as to tell the panel that they would not be willing to spend the time, effort and money to fight PASPA.

Lesniak bellowed out “What Cost?”, turning the spokesman for the league into a retreating safety on a Tom Brady/Randy Moss bomb. Again, Lesniak hammered him adding in that he is willing to do the legal work for the suit pro-bono and, similar to Delaware, the casinos would be paying costs, not the state. “There is no cost to us”, stated Lesniak firing a salvo that the NFL would be the ones who are going to have to work hard and pay to stop his legal efforts.

The rest of the panel of Senators took shot at the NFL saying that professional sports are already tainted with the off-the-field problems of star athletes, doping and even the NFL’s involvement in lotteries. I am 100% sure that Mr. McDonough wished he had stayed in bed. Still, having attended several of the Delaware hearings last year this is not their best effort. With each subsequent hearing in Delaware more, and more powerful, attorneys showed up for the NFL. If the bandwagon continued to fill, tell the high-profile lawyers to fire up their first-class plane tickets and head to Washington.

Senator Lesniak does appear to be on a mission and is unyielding in his efforts. He fiercely attacked opponents’ arguments and the Federal Government for controlling what can and cannot be done in New Jersey. It about time that the other 46 states in the Union to stand up and ask why sports betting is allowed in the other four. I am sure that if New Jersey gains traction against PASPA and Senator Lesniak’s legislation makes the ballot in November, many other states and probably even gaming companies will follow his lead and jump on the bandwagon.