A bill to set the regulations for sports betting in New Jersey is advancing in the legislature and could be ready for the governor’s signature as early as Thursday.
Bryan Seeley, the head of investigations for Major League Baseball, urged lawmakers to add provisions to the legislation that would enable sports leagues to get information from casinos to help detect possible corruption.
“Part of my job is to protect the fans of baseball in this state and I need tools to do that.”
But he got a chilly response from Assembly Gaming Committee chairman Ralph Caputo.
“You guys are in it to make money. You’re not interested in protecting anybody. This is hypocrisy to the fullest extent. This is ridiculous.”
Caputo says he’s confident the state Division of Gaming Enforcement will be able to regulate the integrity of the sports betting process.
Dennis Drazin is chairman of Darby Development, the company that operates Monmouth Park race track. He says professional sports teams will profit from sports betting.
“They’re going to make a lot of money. They’re going to have more viewership, more value. How many people really would watch an obscure game on a Monday night if they didn’t have some action on it.”
Drazin says Monmouth Park is ready to start taking sports wagers as soon as Governor Phil Murphy signs the legislation and the track gets is sports betting license.