Five sports associations involved in a Supreme Court sports betting case won a follow-up lawsuit. It sought millions of dollars in damages.
Last week on Friday, United States District Judge Michael A. Shipp denied a pleading filed in May by the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NJTHA) – a group associated with the Monmouth Park racetrack and casino – asking “for judgment on $3.4 million injunction bond plus interest and damages.”
The New Jersey-based group had filed a renewed claim against the NFL, NCAA, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball just weeks of the Supreme Court’s May 14 decision that opened the gates for states to legalize sports betting.
According to court records
Lawyers for the five leagues described the group’s claim as frivolous.
Honorable Judge Shipp – the same judge who initially handled the lawsuit that later landed at the Supreme Court – had previously issued an injunction preventing NJTHA and Monmouth Park from offering sports betting. NJTHA claimed to have suffered more than $10 million in damages during the temporary restraining order in 2014.
Verdict
“The Court found NJTHA was not wrongfully enjoined,” wrote Judge Shipp in a nine-page ruling obtained by ESPN. “The Court, accordingly, found good cause existed to deny NJTHA damages under the injunction bond.”
In winning, the NFL, NCAA, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball dodged a ruling that would have allowed other bookmakers to claw-back money allegedly lost during the time between when the five leagues sued to enforce the federal law banning single-game wagering outside of Nevada, and the date the Supreme Court declared the ban to be unconstitutional.
Monmouth Park and the NJTHA could potentially appeal Judge Shipp’s ruling in the coming weeks. The group had previously claimed, “that the Leagues acted in bad faith. This, by wrongfully blocking the NJTHA from operating a sports-betting venue at Monmouth Park.”