Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) — New Jersey gamblers cannot bet on Rutgers, Seton Hall, Princeton, and other college sports teams. such a bet.
Voters rejected measures that would allow betting on New Jersey college teams or other state teams playing games in New Jersey, in results tallied on Wednesday.
They approved another poll question that would allow organizations permitted to hold raffles to keep money to support themselves.
Proponents of the sports betting issue intended to allow New Jersey to maintain national leadership in the legal sports betting market in the United States, something the country is currently doing.
Proponents said New Jersey is losing bets involving popular New Jersey college teams that sportsbooks from other states are allowed to. There will also be several college tournaments coming soon with teams from all over the country expected to participate.
Opinion polls throughout the summer and early fall showed the bill was headed for defeat.
Jane Boknewitz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, said: “One possible concern with lifting the ban is that college athletes may feel more pressure and scrutiny on social media. It was to be done,” he studies the gambling industry. “This is what professional athletes have faced, and some question whether sports betting was a factor.”
In September, New Jersey became the first US state to accept over $1 billion in sports bets in a single month.
However, due to the way the state’s sports betting laws were crafted, none of those bets involved New Jersey’s college teams. They were explicitly left out by lawmakers who expressed concern about the game’s perception of integrity.
Since then, however, New Jersey’s heavily regulated sports betting industry has operated without major problems, and its rules and procedures are considered a model that several other states have adopted.
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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter @WayneParryAC.