Congressional action appears necessary if sports betting is to be legalized in Atlantic City casinos and elsewhere around the U.S. That’s the belief of yankee Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman following this week’s rejection of latest Jersey’s effort to get  a court-ordered change within the 1992 act of Congress that banned most types of sports betting.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling invalidated a 2014  New Jersey law that will have allowed sports betting at casinos and racetracks. The court found New Jersey’s action repealing prohibitions against sports gambling violated the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA)..

Gov. Chris Christie and others supporters of legalized sports betting  began efforts to modify the law several years ago as a vehicle to revitalize Atlantic City’s casino business however the effort was denied by the federal courts at every turn.

This week’s rejection by the whole nine-member court may also be appealed to the U.S... Supreme Court, however the court denied a prior appeal, which has the state probably seeking to Congress because the in all probability source of change.

Freeman said, “Washington has a responsibility to mend a failed law that it created nearly 25 years ago. A federal government prohibition has driven an illegal, and infrequently dangerous, sports betting market of a minimum of $150 billion annually.

New Jersey’s effort has a lengthy legal history. The four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA sued the state in 2012, after New Jersey voters approved sports gambling the former year. The leagues claimed the growth of legal sports betting to New Jersey would damage the integrity in their games and result in the possibility of  game-fixing.

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