Why New Jersey should have sports betting

I've always said that if New Jersey wants to make easy money, we should legalize marijuana, prostitution, and sports betting. We may get (as Meatloaf would say) "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad." It's looking more and more like we're getting marijuana, prostitution we'll save for another day. The New Jersey powers that be, including Governor Christie, Senate President Steve Sweeney, and others, are in Washington as the Supreme Court hears arguments in a battle that's been going on for the past five years.

The argument presented by some sports leagues that it would hurt their game doesn't make any sense since four states already allow sports betting and none of those leagues are suffering. What those leagues should do is embrace sports betting. Imagine NFL themed casinos, that would be fantasy football! They've already got their logos on lottery tickets. Imagine the prop bets? You can even bet on who will take a knee for the National Anthem!

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expects to see legalized sports betting telling Sports Business Journal's John Ourand "my sense is the law will change in the next few years" and "people want to bet throughout the game, it results in enormous additional engagement with the fans."

The fact that New Jersey had a window to become the fifth state is yet another reason. If we could have had it then, why can't we have it now? Actually we do have it now, we just can't profit from it because it's illegal.

I spoke to Dr. Sean Patrick Griffin author of "Gaming The Game," which is the story behind the NBA betting scandal involving former referee Tim Donaghy. He researched sports betting and talked about the billions of dollars that leave New Jersey for other countries that we could have here and tax. Money that could go to cut our taxes!

The argument for legalized sports betting is the same as the argument for legalized marijuana. If it's already here and people are making money from it, why shouldn't New Jersey?

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