More than 17 months after his state’s successful court fight led to the nationwide legalization of sports betting, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said Tuesday legal fees for the case – roughly between $7 million and $8 million – were worth the cost.
Christie was addressing an overflow crowd at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. At the same time, New Jersey announced its casinos and racetracks took in a record $445 million in sports wagers during September.
“A drop in the bucket,” Christie said of the price to have former U.S. Solicitor General and noted appellate attorney Ted Olson litigate New Jersey’s arguments to toss out the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.
“We projected about $1.5 billion would be bet on sports in New Jersey in the first year. It was more than double,” Christie said. “We should all get that (return on investment),” Christie said.
The two-term Republican governor’s address during G2E’s opening keynote session marked the second time this year he discussed New Jersey’s effort to legalize sports betting to a conference sponsored by the American Gaming Association.
In March, at the AGS’s Sports Betting Executive Summit at MGM National Harbor in Maryland, Christie took a victory lap of sorts in discussing the six-year legal battle that culminated with the U.S. Supreme Court ending PASPA and allowing states to legalize the activity.
On Tuesday, Christie discussed his views on sports betting expansion since the May 2018 ruling, which has seen 13 states, including Nevada’s legacy market, launch sports betting operations through casinos, racetracks and mobile wagering applications.
He touted New Jersey’s success, which modeled its sports betting after Nevada. The states, he said, have worked together to create two successful markets.
“We’ve shown the rest of the country how to do this,” Christie said.
He was critical, however, of other states for either lacking mobile sports betting or creating a system where operators couldn’t benefit.
Pennsylvania was a target of his wrath.
“Pennsylvania really screwed it up. They are a rolling dumpster fire,” Christie said, citing the state’s “ridiculously high tax rate” and high barriers to entry.
“What you now have is that on Saturday and Sunday, people drive from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, sit at our mobile stops, and make their football wagers on their mobile phones,” Christie said.
Christie is advocate of mobile sports wagering and was critical of states that have either shunned the concept or have delayed implementing the activity. He said Illinois, which legalized sports betting this summer but has yet to enact regulations, will learn quickly that delaying mobile for 18 months will hurt the casinos and operators.
“Eighteen months in the penalty box means 18 months of less revenues,” Christie said. “I guarantee you Illinois will change.”
With another five states, along with Washington D.C., looking to launch legal sports betting by the end of the year, and six other states with either active sports betting legislation or ballot initiatives, Christie believes the market will continue to flourish.
Still, he cautioned that states need to avoid any type of problem or scandal with sports betting. Otherwise, Washington D.C. lawmakers might try to intercede, particularly on behalf of the professional sports leagues, which have sought fees in exchange for use of data.
“The leagues are dead wrong about fees. The states should pay the exact integrity fees that (Nevada) paid for 70 years, which was zero,” Christie said. “This is a state’s rights issue and I’ve told governors and state representatives you’re the only ones who can screw this up. One scandal is an invitation for the federal government to get back in. You don’t want Washington getting involved in anything that matters.”
In September a bill seeking federal sports betting oversight – one similar to a bill that died at end of last year – was drafted by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
In press briefing following the G2E address, Christie said he had no idea why the bill was drafted, but he didn’t think it would go anywhere. He said he “doesn’t really talk with Schumer” and that “I don’t really understand a lot of things Romney is doing lately.”
Earlier this year, Christie published a memoir, Let Me Finish, where he discussed his time as governor, seeking the Republican nomination for president, his work on President Donald Trump’s campaign, and other matters. However, he didn’t address sports betting.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
