For the time being New Jersey’s 14 online sportsbooks will continue to be confined to operating within state lines.
Other states with large economies like California, neighbors New York and Philadelphia, Illinois and Florida will continue to be out of bounds.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that cross-border gambling by the Garden State’s online Casinos and sports fantasy operators is still legal.
This was made clear by a Federal Judge this week. He ruled that the Wire Act of 1961 applied only to sports betting. It did not apply to lotteries or other forms of online gaming such as slots, poker, and Fantasy games, he said.
Judge Paul Barbadoro from the US District Court of New Hampshire was the judge who made the ruling. It came in a lawsuit brought to court by the state of New Hampshire. And they did it in response to the Government’s new interpretation of the Wire Act.
The US Department of Justice recently reversed a 2011 interpretation that the Wire Act applied only to sports betting.
Government’s about-face threatened education revenue
The DOJ’s about-face on the 2011 ruling threatened to make it impossible for gambling operators to run online lotteries, casino and fantasy sports games across state lines
According to an Associated Press report, New Hampshire sought the Court’s clarification on the legality of online multi-jurisdictional gambling. Their legal team pointed out that if it was now illegal, it would come at a great cost.
New Hampshire could well lose revenues in excess of $90m a year and this would seriously endanger its educational program.
Chris Sununu, the Governor for New Hampshire, called the ruling ‘an historic victory’ that would ‘protect public education in our state.’
The 44-year-old Republican said his administration was ‘proud to have led this effort’. He also thanked the New Hampshire Lottery Commission ‘for its work on this critical case.’
Matthew McGill of NeoPollard Interactive is reported to have told AP that the ruling is not limited to New Hampshire. It would also apply in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. This because these states had joined the New Hampshire court fight by filing friend-of-the-court briefs.
DOJ’s incorrect interpretation of the Wire Act set aside
He said: “Because the court ‘set aside’ the United States Department of Justice’s incorrect reinterpretation of the [Interstate] Wire Act, this ruling has a nationwide impact.
“Throughout the country, state lotteries and others in the gaming industry once again can rely on the United States Department of Justice’s 2011 opinion that the [Interstate] Wire Act is limited to sports betting.”
Judge Barbadoro’s ruling may not be the end of the story, however.
The Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling reportedly told the Associated Press that an appeal was likely due to the rule being ‘limited.’
This Coalition is supported by Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Las Vegas Sands Corporation. It had filed an amicus brief in support of the US DOJ’s new position.
“While we disagree with many of the views expressed in Judge Barbadoro’s ruling, we are happy that the scope of the opinion was confined to the parties involved.
“We are confident that other jurisdictions will see this issue very differently and our resolve to protect at-risk populations has only been strengthened by today’s decision.”
