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New Jersey drops ban in sports betting

Christie

Given the league’s recent experiences in New Jersey, it may want to move the Jets and Giants back across the river.

Apart from Atlantic City being the epicenter of one of the biggest scandals with which the NFL has ever dealt, Governor Chris Christie has lifted the state’s ban on sports betting at the racetracks and casinos.

According to the New York Times, it all happened so quickly and abruptly that New Jersey racetracks and casinos weren’t ready to implement sports betting, even though the ban was lifted as of Monday.

The NFL has aggressively opposed the expansion of legalized sports wagering, filing lawsuits with other sports leagues to block efforts to launch wagering programs in Delaware and New Jersey. After the leagues prevailed against New Jersey’s effort to expand sports wagering by passing a new law, New Jersey decided to simply quit enforcing the laws on the books.

Undoubtedly, the NFL will fight back, either by instigating the Justice Department to take action against New Jersey’s apparent defiance of federal law or by filing yet another lawsuit.

It won’t be easy. It will be expensive. But when the NFL really wants to get something done, the NFL does whatever it has to do.

As long as there’s no videotape to be obtained.