LESNIAK APPLAUDS SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS’ LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN SPORTS BETTING IN NJ

Says ‘Let the Games Begin’ – Fed Suit Allows Garden State to Once-And-For-All Legitimize Legal Sports Wagering Within Its Borders

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the prime sponsor of legislation legalizing sports wagering in New Jersey, today applauded the news that a coalition of professional and college sports organizations had filed suit in federal court to overturn New Jersey’s new sports better law on the grounds that it violates the federal “Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.”

“Let the games begin,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “From the start, we wanted our day in court to prove that the federal ban on sports wagering is unconstitutional. By moving forward with a law to legalize sports wagering in New Jersey – a law that was approved overwhelmingly by the voting public of New Jersey – we drew a line in the sand and dared the sports organizations to cross it. Their lawsuit today means they’ve played right into our hands, and now they have the burden of defending the constitutionality of an unfair sports wagering ban which gives four states in the country – and off-shore betting operators and organized crime – a monopoly to the detriment of everybody else.

Click here to read the rest of Senator Lesniak's news release.

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