NCAA, Pro Sports Leagues Suing New Jersey Over Sports Betting Law

There are four states where sports gambling is legal: Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and Montana. That seems to be unfair to other states that have later legalized gambling, such as New Jersey. This year, Gov. Chris Christie and the legislature sought to overcome federal law authorizing only Nevada to allow sports betting by enacting a sports betting law for the state.

Now, the NCAA and the major pro sports leagues are suing the state.

The nation's four professional sports leagues and the NCAA filed suit against Gov. Chris Christie and other state officials in federal court in Trenton this morning to block New Jersey from allowing sports betting in Atlantic City casinos and the state's race tracks.

The suit, brought by Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association cites a 1992 federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, prohibiting all but four states to permit betting on collegiate and professional games. The measure was sponsored by Bill Bradley, a former Democratic senator from New Jersey who also played basketball for the New York Knicks.

The suit asserts that "the outcome of collegiate and athletic contests must be determined, and must be perceived by the public as being determined, solely on the basis of honest athletic competition."

New Jersey was the only state in 1992 to be be given an opportunity by Congress to approve a referendum allowing sports betting, but the matter was never placed on the ballot.

In November, New Jersey voters approved a ballot referendum to amend the state Constitution to allow sports betting , which is currently only permitted by federal law in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana.

It's really hilarious to read that the leagues and NCAA are concerned about New Jersey's gambling threatening the "character and integrity" of events and threatens the "reputations and goodwill" between fans and teams. After all, that would be an argument applicable to any state that had sports gambling.

This seems to be a curious argument being made by the sports organizations. After all, they haven't been concerned about the gambling in the states where it is legal (and grandfathered into the federal law prohibiting sports gambling elsewhere). If they were that concerned about the vice of sports gambling, then they would have tried to block sports gambling in those states. Well, they have tried, though they haven't been successful.

This has more to do with a poorly conceived federal law that is discriminatory against states that didn't consider sports betting prior to the enactment of the federal law. It protects the interests of the states where sports betting is legal and intrudes into an area where states were previously free to consider their own policy on gambling.

The Obligatory LeBron James Wrapup

LeBron James, the NBA player who commanded pretty much all the attention in the NBA off-season, will be going to the Miami Heat, rather than New York, Chicago, or the Newark (NJ) Nets.

Whatever shall we do? Well, if you're in Cleveland, you're probably wondering what you did to deserve this fate.

After all, Cleveland used to rock:



James didn't think it rocked, so he rolled on down to South Beach to join up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Wade's won a championship with the Heat; Bosh and James have done nothing despite James' tremendous talent and abilities to fill the seats of arenas around the NBA. The guy is a phenomenal talent, but he hasn't exactly won anything.

New York was hoping for James to come to be their savior; same with the Nets. Can't blame them given that both franchises cleared cap space to attempt to make this happen, but their offers fell short.

The best revenge for those cities would be to win one before the Heat (and James) do. I can only hope that the Cavaliers win first - that would be the sweetest revenge for Cavs' owner Dan Gilbert, who wrote a stinging rebuke of the James departure. Moreover, he promised the Cavs would win the championship before the "...self-titled former "king" wins one."

Right now, the Heat are the biggest winners of the offseason, namely because with the James signing, they've now sold out all games as of this afternoon (except for the withheld seats for single game purchases). Sales of his jersey will start flying off shelves pretty quickly too.

Lakers Win NBA Championship and Riots Ensue

I never got the reason behind rioting after your team wins a championship. It's insane, and while the Los Angeles police claimed that they were prepared to deal with any rioting, it still broke out and damage was done.

Crowds hurled bottles and other objects at police, smashed marquees, jumped on vehicles, broke windows, and set rubbish dumpsters and vehicles on fire along Figueroa Street north of Staples Center and on Flower Street.

Police fired non-lethal rounds to disperse the crowd at Figueroa and Venice Boulevard after several small fires were set, as well as at 11th and Hope streets. At 7th and Flower, a car believed to be a taxicab was engulfed in flames.

At least one person was beaten unconscious as fights broke out on Flower Street near Olympic Boulevard. A bicyclist was injured when struck by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department vehicle near 11th and Flower streets, according to the LAPD.

In all, there were multiple injuries but no loss of life, officials said. One police officer suffered a broken nose. As night wore on, fire crews responded to many rubbish fires and some vehicle fires, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The LAPD declared an unlawful assembly moments after the game ended.