5 Things California can learn from New Jersey about Online Gambling
Ever since the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, legal sports betting in the country has experienced tremendous growth. Wagers have placed more than $2 billion worth of bets at various New Jersey sportsbooks since William Hill took its first sports bet at Monmouth Park racetrack a month after the federal restriction was lifted by the Supreme Court.
Today, New Jersey is running laps around other states that have already legalized or hoping to legalize sports betting. Other states, such as California though, haven’t been as lucky. Today, California finds itself stuck as it waits for the relevant parties to sort out their issues before sports betting can be legalized in the state.
What exactly is going on with California?
Thousands of football and basketball fans find themselves unable to wager on their favorite teams; 49ers, Golden State Warriors, Raiders; thanks to delays from the Senate committee. While there has been genuine interest from the state to legalize sports gambling in the country’s most populous state, concerns that have been brought forward by various already established gambling operators continue to stymie legislation.
Desperate, like many other states in the country, to patch up the mega-sized budget hole that has been left by the pandemic, the California legislature needs to seriously reconsider its decision. Legalized sports betting will help to bring legitimacy to the industry, as illegal sports betting has been happening in the shadows for years.
Along with the legislative hurdles, the state has also had to grapple with the influential tribal casinos in the state, many of which are opposed to the idea of legalizing the industry for fear of monopolies. Several Native American tribes have already stepped up to push their own agenda and legalization ballot measure.
However, these efforts were thwarted by the pandemic. According to some of the tribes, online sports betting will raise numerous regulatory challenges including how to prevent minors from gambling, that the state is not yet ready or prepared to handle. The Native tribes have also been opposed to online gaming because they do not want card rooms in the state as they already control banked card games such as blackjack.
Analysts predict that legalized sports betting could generate as much as $200 million in the first year for the state. As such, the state must continue striving to legalize the industry if it wants to reap the results.
5 things California can learn from New Jersey About Online Gambling
If California has any hopes of legalizing sports betting, there is a lot that it can learn from the New Jersey sports betting market. 5 things that it can learn include:
Loosen strict legislative laws
California may have the best bills written. However, even after months of input, the state still has nothing to show for it. It’s no one’s fault, in particular, that’s just the fickle nature of the political process, which in more ways than one is what dictates both the pace as well as the direction of the long-awaited rollout of legal sports betting in the state.
Offer punters a wide array of deposit options
Punters should have an easy and seamless experience whenever they need to fund their accounts. New Jersey regulators have created a lenient sign up process, allowing punters to fund the accounts using online cards with ease.
The trouble with other states such as California is that almost half of the credit card issuers in the country refuse to approve charges related to gambling. If California wants to grow like New Jersey, it must find a way to deal with this impediment otherwise its growth will be stunted.
Offer Mobile wagering
New Jersey enjoys the most liberal regulatory betting structure, as it allows betters to place bets using their mobile devices. A tax rate of 8.5 percent on bets placed in person and 13 percent on those placed online.
If California wants to succeed, it must follow in the steps of New Jersey. Unlike other states such as Nevada, New Jersey does not require in-person registration, which has gone a long way in helping betters to sign up in their numbers.
Give customers as much variety as possible
New Jersey probably has the highest number of sportsbooks in the country. The Garden State allows as many as 42 sportsbooks to operate online under the state’s licensing structure. The licenses, which are commonly referred to as skins, emanate from a core of 14 brick and mortar casinos and horse tracks that were already operational in the state.
Thanks to these licenses, each of the parties can profit, which helps the New Jersey sports betting market to keep growing further and further.
Enter into partnerships with sports leagues to create legitimacy
There is no denying the power of the American sports betting market. That’s why operators are doing all they can and spending heavily to attract new customers and to stand out in the highly competitive space. To fuel growth further, sports leagues including the National Basketball Association, NFL, MLB are all entering into partnerships with operators, casinos, and sportsbooks.
In the beginning, lots of leagues were opposed to the idea of forming partnerships with gaming entities. However, this has all changed. The realization from the various sports leagues as well as their shareholders that sports betting could no longer be kept separate from sports helped to turn things around. The financial benefits of legalizing sports betting could also not be ignored.
For quite some time, the NFL was one of the most resistant to sports betting. However, it has since changed its tune and even recently announced that it would allow casino partnerships, as well as stadium sports, betting lounges in 2020., which is slated to further help the sports betting industry grow.
Final Thoughts
The sports betting industry is one of the fastest-growing industries today. Investors and sports betting operators are running up the score, many are predicting that the burgeoning industry will be a 7-8-billion-dollar industry in America come 2025.
After New Jersey’s momentous Supreme Court ruling that helped to clear the way for all 50 states to offer legalized sports betting, more and more states are scheduled to legalize it in the next coming years. As such, the future of sports betting in America has never looked brighter than it does now.
