Sports ‘gambling’ coming to the Meadowlands Racetrack – NorthJersey.com

Once banned, sports betting at casinos and racetracks like the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford will become a reality, since the Sept. 8 announcement by the attorney general’s office that casinos and racetracks will not be prosecuted for running sports wagering operations – as long as they don’t include college teams.

Regardless, the Big M has embraced the spirit of sports betting with a new app, long before the Sept. 8 announcement. Visitors to the Victory Sports Bar at the Meadowlands Racetrack can use the app to “bet” on football and basketball games without actually placing money down. The MRE app allows sports and gambling enthusiasts to watch NFL and Top 25 college football teams each week in Victory Sports Bar and RaceWorld Teletheatre at the Meadowlands Racetrack, and pick their favorite teams for a chance at a weekly $2,000 prize. Entry is free. Players must be MRE Player Rewards members and registered for MRE Football Challenge, the latter which is played via mobile device through the MRE Sports app. All picks must be entered at either Victory Sports Bar, RaceWorld Teletheatre or the Player Rewards VIP Room. Contestants get 1,000 points each Tuesday to play for the week’s football games, use their MPR account number and PIN to submit picks. The contestant with the most points wins $2,000. At the end of the 17-week challenge, the player with the most wins gets $10,000.

The app use in a sense signals that the Garden State is ready to embrace sports gambling, long before the Sept. 8 announcement and despite a 1992 federal law that bans sports betting in most states.

“It is a free play sports contest, and it is quite clear that it is a contest utilizing points, not money. We see the MRE Free Play Football Challenge as a new way for customers to enjoy the brand new track and sports bar,” said Elizabeth Rosenthal Traub, managing partner, EJ Media Group, public relations firm for the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Acting Attorney General John Hoffman issued a directive on Sept. 8 to law enforcement agencies, noting that New Jersey can repeal its sports betting ban and stop enforcement. In 2012, the Sports Wagering Act passed, but pro sports leagues sued to block it. In 2013, a federal judge banned New Jersey from “sponsoring, operating, advertising, promoting, licensing, or authorizing” sports wagering, which it found would violate the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. A federal appeals court upheld the decision, finding the federal ban constitutional. However, nothing prevented New Jersey from repealing its sports betting legislation, and Gov. Chris Christie vetoed legislation to legalize sports betting on Aug. 9. Since then, the attorney general’s office has requested that the ban be amended to show that New Jersey can choose not to prosecute sports betting.

Jeff Gural, who took over the Meadowlands Racetrack operations in 2012, has a 35-year lease for the site that he invested $120 million to reconstruct a Grandstand.

The lease is for $1 a year, and by the fifth year, he has to pay $500,000 a year or a percentage of profits. Although Gural is optimistic about sports betting, he’s not banking on it to give the Big M a boost. The racetrack attracts younger generations, and the goal is to add party events, for starters. Betting has gone high tech. However, New Jersey doesn’t subsidize horse racing, and 90 percent of his customers make wagers off premises, he noted.

“A lot of our customers are betting on their iPhones, iPads, and computers, and so that’s a change. Business could be better but it is what it is. The future is bright. The racetrack will be profitable without [sports betting],” Gural said. “Once people are more exposed to it, the Big M will do great. We have a nightclub that will reopen in mid-September, thoroughbred racing for a few weeks starting on Nov. 18, then harness racing up through Aug. 8, 2015. Right now we have simulcast racing and next weekend, we open the sports bar for football.”

Regardless of whether or not the Big M can survive long term without sports betting and eventually slot machines, Gural says he was disappointed when the Supreme Court refused to hear the argument about the constitutional issue of sports betting, and the legislature passed a bill to allow sports betting as long as it’s not regulated by the state, and the governor vetoed.

“Monmouth was going to implement sports betting and defend lawsuits by the sports teams if the governor signed,” Gural said.

Since the Sept. 8 announcement, it seems that state officials are taking the economic issue of revenue from sports wagering seriously, particularly in light of Atlantic City’s fifth casino bankruptcy filing. Revenue from sports betting and eventually northern New Jersey for casinos detailed in a vision plan by Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce recently could help rescue an ailing Atlantic City and boost an economic base in northern New Jersey at the sports complex.

For now, Gural noted that the MRE app is just a fun way to make sports picks without betting, and more importantly, bring customers into the racetrack.

“We hope people come to our sports bar and watch the games on Thursday nights for football, and college games almost daily. During football games, it was difficult trying to work something out with the teams. We’re allowed to keep the sports bar open but you can’t get to it by car [during games]. You need a parking pass to get in. There are four Sundays this year with no football though. The contest was meant to bring people to the facility and see where that goes,” Gural said.

Once sports betting’s legalities are sorted out before operators like Gural implement sports wagering, and casinos are allowed in the Meadowlands, Gural will be ready.

“We have the perfect location to put a casino next to the racetrack, and we’ll try to work with Atlantic City to use some of the revenue provided and help them. Our goal is not to compete but to try to recapture business from northern New Jersey going to Bethleham, Yonkers and Aqueduct. Hopefully that will happen,” Gural said.

Reflecting on the demise of Atlantic City casinos, Gural notes that the number one factor is convenience. “Only 1.5 million people live within 50 miles of Atlantic City, and 14 million live within 50 miles of Meadowlands. There are now casinos in Maryland, Delaware, New York, soon in Massachusetts, and Ohio. People have more choice today,” Gural said. “They’re not going to drive two hours to spend an afternoon in front of a slot machine. Five or six years ago 14 million took a bus to Atlantic City, and now it’s around two million. The rest go to New York, Aqueduct and Yonkers to bet. Now there’s more planned for New York.”

Email: nicholaides@northjersey.com