Online sports betting sites and online casinos in New Jersey may soon no longer be able to form marketing and advertising partnerships with college sports programs in the state. The New Jersey State Assembly recently moved forward with a bill prohibiting this sort of arrangement.
Assembly Bill 4113 was originally introduced in 2024. Democrat Linda Carter is the sponsor of the bill. It passed on the assembly floor via a unanimous vote of 75-0. The bill now goes to the Senate Higher Education Committee for review. In order to become law, Bill 4113 must be approved by the full State Senate and then by Governor Phil Murphy.
This bill would prevent college athletic departments and booster clubs from marketing or advertising any online sportsbook or online casino site inside stadiums and other athletic facilities, or be used in any broadcast content involving the schools. Sports wagering partnerships would still be permitted if there were no advertising or marketing component involved.
Other exceptions to this bill would be any partnership between the online betting sites and New Jersey such as Fanduel and bet365 universities that would be beneficial for academic purposes, or if it was offering experiential learning opportunities to students enrolled in the institution.
The reason behind this bill is entirely understandable. New Jersey state regulators don’t want online gambling being marketed to college students, many who would be under New Jersey’s legal gambling age of 21. As well, responsible gambling studies show that younger people tend to be more receptive to becoming addicted to gambling.
A research paper from the National Library of Medicine concluded that young people are considered more vulnerable to developing gambling problems due to cognitive immaturity, underdeveloped self-regulation and heightened susceptibility to environmental factors like peer pressure and marketing.
College Sports Wagering Restrictive In New Jersey
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, which regulates and licenses all gambling in the Garden State, is already quite restrictive in terms of what is permitted when it comes to gambling on college sports.
It prohibits all wagering on colleges from New Jersey such as Rutgers, Princeton and Seton Hall. If there is a game involving a New Jersey-based school, you won’t be able to bet on it, no matter where that game is being played.
As well, sports bettors are prohibited from getting action on any college sporting event that is being played within New Jersey state lines. In this instance, it doesn’t matter whether the schools involved are from New Jersey. All betting on college games played within state lines is against the law in New Jersey.
As March Madness is about to get underway, these restrictions are certainly going to come into play. This year’s East Regional semifinals and final, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, are both set to be played at the Prudential Center in Newark. That means no one in New Jersey will be able to bet on these games.Player props on college games are also prohibited in New Jersey and people in the Garden State seem to support this regulation. During the 2021 election, a referendum was put on the ballot seeking to legalize betting on player props in college sports. The referendum was defeated by 56.8 to 43.2 percent.
