The Sunday matchup between the Saint Peter’s Peacocks and the North Carolina Tar Heels has been the focus of many fans and players. There is however an interesting twists when it comes to the bettors of BetMGM regarding the same match. The New Jersey community of the betting operator and particularly those who have tickets in support of UNC winning the East are all in luck. Following state regulations on this scenario, Tar Heel Final Four futures bettors will be paid irrespective of the winner.
According to gambling regulations passed by the New Jersey assembly, it is illegal to place a bet on a New Jersey college team or any sporting event involving college teams that is held within the state jurisdiction. In regard to the matter at hand, it must be understood that Saint Peter’s is located in Jersey City which is an area of New Jersey. For any of the bettors who were present on the Bon Jovi’s stomping grounds ad wanted to bet on the outcome of the tournament, it must have been business as usual.
Bettors were given a list of 15 teams to choose from even though the total was 16. If the final outcome of the tournament is that a New Jersey college team bags the championship, BetMGM management in New Jersey will be compelled by law to pay out bets as though the second place team was the winner. For the average bettor who holds a UNC ticket in favor of the No. 8 Tar Heels, they will be awarded even if their choice team was to lose.
The first team to open the winners list was North Carolina that managed 22-to-1 to claim the top spot for teams from the east region. If it happens that Saint Peter’s is going to win the national championship, the same application of the law would be made – the outcome would be that BetMGM Casino will be paying out title futures in favor of the runners up. When the tournament began, it appeared that the Peacocks were in for a win because of their 1,000-to-1 performance but the score currently reads as 40-to-1.
What we cover
A fine for regulation violation
Last year when many gambling institutions were counting their losses, BetMGM decided to tread on murky waters. The betting operator received close to $100 in the form of bets placed on college basketball games in the state of New Jersey. The problem is that such bets are prohibited in the Garden State because casinos are not allowed to take bets for college events. When the matter became known by the authorities, BetMGM was slapped with a fine of $25,000.
According to gambling regulations in NJ, it is not allowed for betting operators to have matches for college events listed on their odds fixtures. Even if a college team from another state comes to play within the state of New Jersey, that event is not supposed to be betted on. This background explains why the fans of the Saint Peter’s University team were banned from placing bets on their game recently.
According to the state legislators in NJ, college matches are not supposed to be bet on because it will encourage the players, who are still students, to engage in unwarranted activities for the sake of doctoring wins. From a layman’s point of view, it makes sense that college students be allowed to participate in sports competition without the pressure of bets behind them. College sports is to large extent still experimental and amateur in nature – it is unfair for adults to expect anything else from this level of sport.
Riding on the same argument, there are some additional states which have placed bans on college team betting; they include Washington, Virginia, South Dakota and New York. For the residents of NJ, the opportunity to change this law was presented to them last year but they did not. In a referendum kind of legislation, the local government allowed the decision to have college bets legalized to come from the electorate. It was unanimously agreed that he original ban would hold which was supposed to maintain the integrity of college level sports.
What if a NJ fan desperately wants to place a bet in favor of a college sports game? The best and only option would be to travel to a destination or state where the gambling laws support this kind of betting. The closest options in this case would be Pennsylvania and New York.
The news that BetMGM had been fined for violating a gambling regulation came to the public light in a document that was published less than a fortnight ago. The decision and action of imposing the fine was facilitated by New Jersey gambling regulators. According to license documents issued to BetMGM, the betting operator which is allied to Borgata Casino is party to the laws and regulations of New Jersey. The violation occurred when the gambling house accepted bets for Rutgers University game.
When the people of New Jersey took to the ballot in November 2021, they decided to vote against in-college events betting so as to protect the integrity of school-based sports. It is clear from what has happened to BetMGM that some might have voted without proper knowledge on what the implications of their actions were. A few months ago, the electorate was again given the opportunity to change his law but their earlier decision still stands today.
Conclusion
The New Jersey senate has on numerous occasions placed the power of lawmaking in the hands of the people of the Garden State. On every one of these occasions, the people chose to prohibit betting on matches that involved New Jersey colleges. It is not clear how much civic education was available before the voting because the actions as were reported of BetMGM indicate a discord.
