GOV. CHRISTIE SIGNS NEW JERSEY SPORTS BETTING BILL

1/18/2012 : Court challenge of the federal PASPA now seems inevitable
 
New Jersey Senator Ray Lesniak's bill seeking to legalise New Jersey sports betting in the state and authorising a challenge of the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was signed off Tuesday by Governor Chris Christie…but on condition that the federal ban is overturned.
 
The bill passed through the New Jersey Legislature with ease following a ballot last year in which a majority of New Jerseyans approved the introduction of strictly regulated sports betting to the state.
 
The PASPA bans sports betting in all but four states, and New Jersey looks set to go to court to challenge its provisions.
 
Supporters of sports betting claim that the legalization of sports betting could not only generate tax revenues for the state, but enable it to reclaim millions of dollars from illegal bookies, and give Atlantic City another attraction to bring visitors to the casinos.