The story of when N.J. almost legalized sports betting in 1993

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1 Page 1 of 5 The story of when N.J. almost legalized sports betting in 1993 Bill Bradley Then-U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley speaks in Bradley (D-N.J.) sponsored a bill to ban sports betting across the nation, (Star-Ledger file photo) Brent Johnson NJ Advance Media for NJ.com By Brent Johnson NJ Advance Media for NJ.com the author Follow on Twitter on March 15, 2015 at 6:00 AM, updated March 16, 2015 at 1:41 PM TRENTON Attorneys for New Jersey will return to federal court Tuesday to once again press an argument they've pushed for several years: that sports betting should be legal in Garden State casinos and racetracks. The battle against the nation's powerful sports leagues has cost the state millions in legal fees as politicians present sports betting as a tonic for Atlantic City, New Jersey's ailing gambling resort. But this is a fight that wouldn't have been waged at all had things turned out differently in Trenton 22 years ago. Given just one year to approve sports betting after Congress banned it across the nation, the New Jersey Assembly ran out the clock and did nothing in the Summer of '93. Sports betting was allowed to die amid political fights that featured a deal made in Congress, lobbying from basketball legends, harsh words from Donald Trump and a heated gubernatorial election. "It was a missed opportunity," said former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, who pushed to allow sports betting in New Jersey when he was in Congress back then. State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), the man who has led the recent battle to bring sports betting to New Jersey, put it more bluntly. "It was a huge mistake," he said. BRADLEY'S BAN The national ban on sports betting actually originated in New Jersey. In 1991, U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a former basketball star for Princeton University and the New York Knicks, first proposed a ban, saying sports betting sends the wrong message to youths and runs the risk of having bookies control the outcomes of games. "I think of athletes as persons," Bradley, a Democrat, said at the time. "I don't like them to be turned into roulette chips."

2 Page 2 of 5 The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL all agreed and lobbied for the ban, which exempted Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon states that already had some form of sports book in place. But Torricelli, then one of New Jersey's members of the U.S. House of Representatives, responded with a caveat: Atlantic City needed to be exempted as well if it hoped to remain competitive with Las Vegas. "It gave Atlantic City the chance to be more than a destination for daytrippers," Torricelli said of sports betting. Bradley objected, saying it was not "in the best interest of New Jersey's children." But when Congress passed the ban and President George H.W. Bush signed it into law in 1992, New Jersey was given until Jan. 1, 1994 to approve legal sports betting. Because that required a change of the state constitution, voters would have to be asked to approve sports betting on Election Day That, however, is when politics took over. FIGHT IN THE ASSEMBLY The Republican-controlled state Legislature had until late summer to approve a ballot issue allowing sports betting at Atlantic City casinos. State Sen. C. Louis Bassano (R-Union), one of the measure's sponsors, noted that sports betting could bring millions of dollars of new revenue into the state. "It's an industry that's already out there," Bassano said at the time, noting that bookies were reaping money that could legally be going to the state instead. "We just want to legalize it." Two sides squared off on the issue. Bradley formed a coalition of pro sports leagues, NCAA officials, church groups, and law-enforcement agencies to continue to push against sports betting in New Jersey. At one point, he even held a news conference alongside former Knicks teammate Willis Reed at the Brendan Byrne Arena. On the other side was the Casino Association of New Jersey, which lobbies for the state's gaming industry, and Donald Trump, who then owned four casinos in Atlantic City and warned that the industry would "just close up" if sports betting wasn't legalized. "It's vital to keeping your taxes low," Trump told reporters at the time. "It's vital to the senior citizens. And it's vital to putting the bookies out of business." The Casino Association spent about $500,000 on an advertising and lobbying effort, making hundreds of telephone calls to legislators' offices. They worried that competition was increasing in neighboring states, and sports betting would give New Jersey a leg up.

3 Page 3 of 5 "Sports betting is the single most important issue for the industry at this time," Nicholas Ribis, the nonprofit's chairman, said at the time. "If it is not passed, we will never be able to compete." The bill narrowly passed the state Senate in December 1992, but it stalled in the state Assembly. It ran into trouble when Assembly Speaker Garabed "Chuck" Haytaian (R-Warren) placed the measure in the Assembly's appropriations committee -- which was chaired by Assemblyman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Morris), now a member of the U.S. House -- who called sports betting "bad public policy." The measure died in the committee, and Haytaian ignored calls from lawmakers who asked him to put it up for a full vote by the Assembly. He stressed that he only put legislation up for votes if it passes through committees first. Frelinghuysen did not respond to requests for comment for this report. Then-state Assembly Speaker Garabed "Chuck" Haytaian (left) is In the summer of 1993, sponsors pictured on the campaign trail in 1994 with Gov. Christie Whitman. amended the bill to allow people to bet Star-Ledger file photo only on professional games, not collegiate ones, hoping to garner more support. But though it passed the Senate again, Haytaian placed the new version of the measure in the same committee, where it died a second death. New Jersey missed the deadline imposed by Congress. Critics accused Republicans of working against the bill because Democratic Gov. Jim Florio and Republican challenger Christie Whitman were in a tight governor's race that year, and they feared putting sports betting on the ballot would bring out more Democratic voters from urban areas. Haytaian still denies that. "I did not play the political game," he said in a recent phone interview. "I played the speaker's game. If a bill doesn't come out of committee, it doesn't go to the floor. Period." Carl Golden, Whitman's spokesman at the time, also said he doesn't buy that argument. "Sports betting didn't have much impact on either campaign or the debates," Golden said. But in sworn testimony about the 1993 election, Whitman's brother and campaign adviser, Webster Todd Jr., said Republicans believed a sports betting referendum could hurt them and actively tried to avoid it. Whitman ended up beating Florio by just 26,093 voters out of 2,505,964 cast. Democrats blamed low turnout in the cities as one of the chief reasons for Florio's loss. "This was a purposefully political decision," Lesniak said. "Chuck Haytaian was a political genius. In my opinion, it won the election for Whitman." THE AFTERMATH

4 Page 4 of 5 Supporters of sports betting say the decision caused untold damage to Atlantic city over the last two decades. "It was a terrible blow to the casinos," said Lloyd Levenson, a noted gaming attorney. "Congress gave us a golden opportunity." In the years since, casinos have sprouted in neighboring states, upping competition. Four Atlantic City casinos have closed over the last year, taking more than 8,000 jobs with them. In January, Gov. Chris Christie installed an emergency manager in the city. Sports betting, experts say, might have given people a reason to visit Atlantic City over the other casino locations in states that aren't allowed to offer it. It also would have given the city a boost during winter months and drawn the kind of gambler who also visits restaurants and takes in entertainment, said Israel Posner, executive director of the Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton College of New Jersey. "Those are lucrative customers to have in town," Posner said. Torricelli said part of the problem is that the state long neglected Atlantic City. "New Jersey took advantage of casino gaming for several decades," he said. "The state reaped the benefits but never wanted to make an investment there. Atlantic City was a stepchild to the New Jersey economy. It was simply money sent to the state treasury." THE NEW BATTLE The battle for sports betting was reignited in 2011 when New Jerseyans voted in favor of it in a referendum. Christie signed sports wagering into law the following year, hoping to give Atlantic City a jolt. But the sports leagues sued, saying the move threatened to compromise the integrity of their games, and won the case twice in federal court. Christie a potential 2016 Republican candidate for president appeared to give up the fight when the U.S. Supreme Court said last year it wouldn't take up the case. Lesniak, however, thought he found a loophole last year by saying the federal ban didn't prevent New Jersey from legalizing sports betting at casinos and tracks as long as the state doesn't sanction or regulate it. The state Legislature fast-tracked the measure, and Christie signed it into law. But the leagues sued again, and a U.S. District judge in Trenton sided with them last fall. Now, the state will plead its case Tuesday to the U.S. Third District Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in front of a threejudge panel that happens to include Donald Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, a longtime federal judge. (Trump no longer owns any casino in Atlantic City.)

5 Page 5 of 5 This time, Lesniak said, the state stands a "50-50" chance of winning. At the same time, U.S. Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd Dist.) and Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.) have introduced bills in Congress to legalize sports betting to help Atlantic City. LoBiondo's bill would give all states four years to decide whether to allow such wagering. Pallone's bill would exempt New Jersey from the current federal ban. Some experts now argue that Bradley's ban has been rendered moot since the Internet has allowed illegal sports betting to become so widespread. Still, Lesniak, who was in the Legislature in 1993, said he is still haunted by what could have been. "It was a monumental loss for New Jersey that I'm trying to get back," he said. MORE POLITICS Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook NJ.com. All rights reserved.