Take the temperature of the sports betting world and you’ll find that pretty much everyone with a stake in New Jersey’s pending Supreme Court case — from betting enthusiasts in the New York metropolitan area to legal minds and media entities — believes legalized sports betting is set to arrive in the Garden State imminently.
However, a decision in favor of New Jersey would be just the first — albeit the most significant — in a series of dominoes that leads to casino and racetrack operators in the state accepting sports bets. Following is a brief primer on how bettors will be able to get down on their sports of choice once the floodgates open.
Monmouth Park will be the first operator to accept a sports bet in New Jersey
One of three racetracks in New Jersey, Monmouth Park has been all in on legalized sports betting since 2013, when it announced it had entered in a long-term partnership with William Hill, the world’s largest sports betting company. As part of the agreement, Monmouth Park built a William Hill-sponsored sports bar that is already open for business.
If and when the Supreme Court rules in favor of New Jersey, the bar will be transformed into a full-service sports book, with representatives of Monmouth Park having already declared that the racetrack will be ready to accept bets within two weeks of the decision.
Borgata will likely be the first Atlantic City casino to open a sportsbook, and others will follow
While not as far along as Monmouth Park, Borgata and parent company MGM Resorts International announced plans in November to build a $7 million sports book at the Atlantic City hotspot. That would figure to make Borgata the first casino in the once booming beachside gaming town to officially open for sports betting business, although MGM has yet to announce a timeline.
No other casino operators have gone public with plans to build sportsbooks of their own, but it’s safe to assume that Ceasar’s Entertainment is preparing for a substantial rollout of sports betting at its three Atlantic City properties — Caesar’s AC, Bally’s AC and Harrah’s AC. In addition, Golden Nugget AC and Tropicana AC — both of which have sister casinos in Las Vegas that feature full-service sportsbooks — can also be expected to join the party in due time.
With the NBA playoffs slated to begin in mid-April and lead into the World Cup, which runs from June 14-July 15, there will be no shortage of action for bettors to get down on once New Jersey gets the proverbial green light to open its bookmaking doors.