NJ Residents Oppose College Sports Betting, Stockton University Poll Shows

In a new poll that was released by Stockton University yesterday, 45% of the voters in New Jersey are actually against a constitutional amendment through which betting on college sports events that take place in the state would be allowed. On the other side, 40% of the people support this amendment, while 14% stated that they are unsure of how they feel about it.

The main question in the poll was whether the residents approve of a constitutional amendment to allow wagering at casinos and old or new racetracks on various college athletic events and sports. In New Jersey, betting on these activities is currently illegal, unless the event occurs outside the state. Additionally, the residents cannot bet on an event that features a New Jersey college team.

Sports Betting Expansion Tries to Come to NJ

Legal betting on professional sports in New Jersey took off in 2018, and the state is one of the few US states where both land-based and online gambling are legal. As a result, the industry has been able to thrive, and many of the top US operators started offering their services to state residents. The most recent development was the Betway entrance to the market. The operator launched a casino and a sportsbook in the state last month.

At the moment, out of the 26 states that have legalized sports betting, New Jersey is the only one that has an explicit ban on in-state college athletics sports betting. The ballot question seeks to change that and it was approved by the June legislation.

Even though the legislature was pretty easy to pass, as support was almost unanimous, the poll by Stockton University paints a different picture. The regulations will likely be harder to sell to the public. Additionally, with election day just 33 days away, a campaign on this matter hasn’t materialized by either side of the argument.

The poll sampled a total of 552 voters and was conducted between September 17-25. It has an error margin of +/- 4.1%.

Sports Betting in the US is on the Rise

With the US Supreme Court decision in 2018, through which states gained the authority to regulate sports betting however they please, the market has had a massive rise. The main reason why the Supreme Court struck down the 1992 federal law that banned commercial sports betting was that it determined that the law overstepped its authority. In addition, statistics showed that around $150 billion of illegal wagers were placed on sports each year.

Since then, 26 states and Washington, DC, have legalized sports betting. Not only that, but the online wagering industry has exploded in popularity. Recently, a new report by Joseph Greff, a J.P. Morgan analyst, showed that the combined revenue of online sportsbooks and online casinos in the US will reach around $19 billion within four years, a few billion more than previously forecast.