New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy launched his state’s regulated sports betting era yesterday by placing a wager on Germany to win the World Cup. It was a small bet that helped celebrate the Garden State’s huge victory in the battle to allow states to determine whether or not sports betting should be allowed at their casinos and race tracks.
A crowd of at least 300 gathered at Monmouth Park to exercise their newly granted right to bet on sporting activities. Monmouth Park is the home to a William Hill run sports book that’s been online and ready to go for quite some time.
William Hill CEO Joe Asher commented on the event to Legal Sports Report saying:
As I look behind us at all these new William Hill employees that have been training over the last week or two to get ready, to learn what to do — that just shows the jobs that are being created here in New Jersey as a result of this effort to bring sports betting to New Jersey. It’s a tremendous occasion, and I thank you all for being here.
William Hill is now leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors in the US sports betting market with outlets in Nevada and New Jersey.
Over at the Borgata, NBA legend Julius Irving placed Atlantic City’s first legal sports bet with a wager that the Philadelphia Eagles would return to the Super Bowl.
So far, only Monmouth Park and the Borgata have opened operational sports books but plenty more operators are expected to open both land-based and online sports books for Garden State punters.