New Jersey Gov. Regarding Massachusetts Legalizing Sports Betting: “I’d do it.”

• Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Told a Media Conference MA Should Legalize Sports Betting
• Massachusetts House and Senate at Odds Over Several Key Sports Betting Issues 
• MA Continues to Lose a Projected $35 Million in Annual Tax Revenue

Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Told a Media Conference MA Should Legalize Sports Betting

From the land of “Fuhgeddaboudit” comes the complete opposite advice, as New Jersey Governor weighed in on whether its neighbor Massachusetts should legalize its own sports betting market, telling those in attendance at a recent media convention: “I’d do it.”

As MA continues to struggle with passing a sports betting bill, New Jersey has had some form of legal sports gambling in place since June 2018 after then-Governor Chris Christie’s administration challenged the constitutionality of PASPA on behalf of the state of New Jersey.

Once that happened, every state has been allowed to legalize, regulate, and tax its own sports betting market, and New Jersey has benefitted from this since that right was granted four years ago, with present Jersey Governor Murphy a huge proponent, telling that media convention:

We’ve long ago beaten Nevada in terms of the monthly handle, and we’ve stayed high even though New York has now legalized. We’ve also been able to attract a lot of jobs into New Jersey because it’s a fintech business … It’s been a home run. I wholeheartedly endorse it.

Massachusetts, however, has been struggling to figure out how their market might look.

Massachusetts House and Senate at Odds Over Several Key Sports Betting Issues

So far, it has been a tricky ride for legal sports betting in Massachusetts with both state legislative chambers committed to only their version of what that market should look like, now several key issues becoming dealbreakers as lawmakers refuse to compromise on their takes.

As we recently reported, a big disagreement for Massachusetts lawmakers is what tax rate the state should charge sportsbooks for their revenue, with the House thinking 15% is fair but the Senate preferring a higher rate of 35%, an increase that some deem unacceptable.

The other issue at hand is whether the legal Massachusetts sports betting market should allow gamblers to wager on college sports, something most other states have no problem with as long as there are no bets made on individual players, a move to limit the temptation for fraud.

The longer Massachusetts waits, though, the more potential money they lose.

MA Continues to Lose a Projected $35 Million in Annual Tax Revenue

There is no telling how much tax revenue a legal sports betting market in MA could generate, but some industry experts have projected that the state could be pocketing $35 million in annual tax revenue with the ability to earmark that money towards whatever funds are deemed worthy.

Meanwhile, Codfish State gamblers are still betting on sports, they are just having to use unregulated offshore sportsbooks and illegal bookies, or else they travel to the other New England states where that activity is legal, like New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut.

Either way, that money is leaving the state, and Massachusetts lawmakers must realize that missed opportunity is the direct result of their failure to compromise, something politicians everywhere struggle to do but at some point must face the monetary facts.

With so much money at stake, there is no “Fuhgeddaboudit” option, with plenty of Massachusetts residents echoing Jersey Governor Murphy’s advice of “I’d do