iGB E-zines iGB e-zine New Jersey | Page 4

Introduction: Off to a flyer Introduction: Off to a flyer Igaming being up and running in NJ for more than four years before the lifting of PASPA puts it in the box-seat to leverage the digital potential of sports betting 4 Oscars betting entered the US mainstream in February this year, at least in New Jersey. Eight months on from the Garden State becoming the first to take advantage of the striking down of PASPA by the Supreme Court and moving to expand the footprint of sports betting in the US, the media lavished attention on the novelty of being able to bet on best director and best movie. The attention is significant, marking how far New Jersey and its operators have come in a short space of time. Their own award for best new regulated gambling market is assured. As Jake Williams, vice president of legal and regulatory affairs for Sportradar says, the plaudits should really go to the regulators, who were given the brief, following the overturning of PASPA in May, to get the market up and running in as short a timeframe as possible. “The regulators in New Jersey had the toughest job in the land,” he adds. “They had to get their regulations together in super quick time and they faced a lot of obstacles.” There is no better experiment than a live test and in this sense, New Jersey is the perfect market to help better understand both how regulated sports betting is likely to fare in the US as well as how it will interact with – and influence – online gaming. New Jersey: data and lessons from the first five years of the US’ leading digital market