New Jersey’s Meadowlands to offer sports betting July 15

In what would be a historic moment for the gaming industry in the USA, New Jersey’s Meadowlands Racetrack is all set to launch sports betting on July 15.

Meadowlands manager Jeff Gural reportedly announced the July start date for wagering at the track. Initially, there will be only land-based wagering but online betting will be added soon. The track has a signed sports betting technology deal with Betfair US, a division of UK-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair.

Gural had previously suggested a much slower rollout of sports betting at the Meadowlands. But the strategy seems to have changed by the failure of legislators to approve betting legislation in New York. The Meadowlands is just across the state line from New York City’s buzzing masses who now do not access to sports betting otherwise.

Gural said New York “did me such a favor by not passing sports betting,” claiming that having near-monopolistic access to the roughly 15m souls who reside within 20 miles of the track was “a tremendous gift.”

Gural has long been advocating amending New Jersey’s constitution to allow casino development in the North Jersey environs where the Meadowlands resides. These plans have so far come to naught, and while Gural said sports betting would give the track’s revenue a boost, the day could come when the track suspends live racing in favour of a sports betting and simulcasting model.

There are currently only two gaming licensees – the Monmouth Park track and Atlantic City’s Borgata casino – offering sports betting in New Jersey, although the new Ocean Resort Casino plans to join the party when it opens June 28 and Resorts Casino Hotel has promised an “imminent” launch of its Draftkings/Kambi-powered sportsbook.

Caesars Entertainment, which operates three Atlantic City casinos, has been officially mum about its wagering plans, but scuttlebutt has it that the venues will have their sportsbooks up and running before the NFL season kicks off this fall.

Source: CalvinAyre.com