NJ Legislators Advanced Two Fixed-Odds Horse Racing Bills

Fixed-odds wagering on horse racing in New Jersey went one step further to legalization after two bills have been approved by committees in the state General Assembly and Senate, a press release from BetMakers Technology Group revealed today.

A4909 and S3090

A4909, introduced by Assemblyman Ronald Dancer and Assemblyman Ralph Caputo was referred to the Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee, where it was approved by a 7-0 vote to advance to the Appropriations Committee. In the Appropriations Committee, after another extensive hearing of the bill, A4909 was approved by a 10-0 vote, with one member not voting.

An identical bill, S3090, sponsored by Sen. Vin Gopal and Sen. Paul Sarlo, and co-sponsored by Sen. Steven Oroho and Sen. Declan O’Scanlon Jr, was referred to the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee, where it got approved by an 11-0 vote with one member not voting.

The bill authorizes fixed-odds betting in the state, besides pari-mutuel wagering, and has provisions for operators to pay 50% on profits, realized when deducting necessary and reasonable expenses related to the administering, marketing and operations of the fixed-odds wagering system, to the horse racing industry.

The state legislative process requires a full vote by members of the floor of the General Assembly and the Senate, and if approved, the bill will be sent to the desk of Gov. Philip Murphy for consideration and eventually signed into law.

BetMakers Positioned to Capitalize

BetMakers and Australian sportsbook operator PointsBet joined forces in July last year to introduce fixed-odds betting on horse racing in New Jersey when the state legalizes this type of wagering, following a previous announcement that BetMakers and Monmouth Park reached an agreement for the company to provide on-course management of fixed odds on behalf of the racetrack in New Jersey.

PointsBet is currently the only partner operator of the betting technology company and its Global Racing Network (GRN) project, looking to provide operators with access to racing content from around the world in a uniformed data stream so that their racing product across domestic and international offerings is consistent.