New Jersey fixed-odds betting legislation awaits governor's signature
A bill allowing New Jersey racetracks to offer fixed-odds wagering passed both houses of the state legislature on Monday and has been sent to Gov. Phil Murphy, who is expected to sign the bill.
The legislation formalizes a bet type that Monmouth Park offered during its 2018 and 2019 meet, after the track opened a sports book on its property. Dennis Drazin, the president of the company that operates Monmouth under a lease with the state, said that the hope is to offer a full slate of fixed-odds bets for the July 17 card, the day of the Haskell Stakes.
“Definitely we will be doing it for Haskell Day,” Drazin said. “We will see how long it takes to have it up and running for every day.”
Fixed-odds bets allow gamblers to lock in a price on a horse, as opposed to pari-mutuel wagering, which allows odds to drift until betting is closed. Fixed-odds betting on horse-racing is popular in some foreign betting markets, namely Great Britain and Australia.
Under legislation passed by the state recently, fixed-odds betting would be limited to people within New Jersey and residents of the state, regardless of their location.
During 2018 and 2019, Monmouth limited fixed-odds betting to its sports book. Drazin said that once Monmouth begins offering fixed odds under the new legislation, customers will be allowed to make the bets throughout the facility. The track also has plans to offer fixed-odds betting online, Drazin said.
Monmouth entered an exclusive agreement with BetMakers to manage the track’s fixed-odds racing business.
Drazin said that Monmouth would seek to negotiate agreements with other tracks in the U.S. allowing for fixed-odds betting on their race cards as well. While that betting would be limited to New Jersey residents and people within the state, Drazin said he was hopeful that other states might authorize fixed-odds betting as well.