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Sports betting looms large in Pa., N.J., Del.

It's the final frontier for states eager for the money gambling brings in: full-blown, Nevada-style wagering on professional and college sports.

It's the final frontier for states eager for the money gambling brings in: full-blown, Nevada-style wagering on professional and college sports.

A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable. But today, with state budgets in tatters and swank casinos in places like Pittsburgh and Bethlehem delivering millions of dollars to Harrisburg, it's at the center of a conversation in the Philadelphia region.

Delaware already has tried to establish sports betting and is likely to make another push. New Jersey legislators met Monday in Atlantic City to discuss a proposed referendum on it. And Pennsylvania - with nine casinos in place, two bound for Philadelphia, and table games fast-tracked - dares not risk losing out to its neighbors.

Not when there are people ready to put $100 down on the Eagles vs. the Giants.

Though no studies have been done on how much sports betting could generate for Pennsylvania, lawmakers know its potential.

"I believe sports betting in Pennsylvania casinos would generate additional revenue and tourism," said State Rep. Dante Santoni Jr. (D., Berks), chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee.

Right now, he believes that "there is no appetite for it in Harrisburg. It is in our best interest to get the table games up and running and successful before we even consider anything of that magnitude legislatively."

Still, State Rep. Paul I. Clymer (R., Bucks), who opposes all forms of gambling, said it was never too early to gear up for a fight, given how quickly table games became a reality. As his first salvo, he said he planned to mail a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Thursday, asking him to resist political pressure that would lead to sports betting in Pennsylvania.

"I have little doubt that, in time, casinos and other gambling enterprises will push for sports betting," Clymer said Wednesday. "After all, it will grow the power and wealth of these gambling entities."

Gov. Rendell declined to comment on the issue.

Sports betting might still be a long shot in this region. But its chances have never been better.

The obstacles? An alphabet soup: NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and NCAA.

Listen to Ray Lesniak, a New Jersey state senator from Union: "I continue to find it ridiculous that adults in New Jersey and 45 other states cannot legally bet on sporting events, while citizens in four states essentially maintain a monopoly on legal sports betting."

Lesniak is cosponsor of the referendum bill that could clear the way for sports betting in New Jersey.

In March 2009, he sued the U.S. Justice Department, seeking to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, the 1992 law that restricts sports betting to Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and Delaware.

"If the sports-betting prohibition were overturned, whether by Congress or by a court, it would open the activity to all gaming states," said Joseph Weinert, an analyst with Spectrum Gaming Group L.L.C., of Linwood, N.J.

Las Vegas casinos have had sports betting exclusively since 1992, but the rapid expansion of gambling nationally and states' hunger for new tax revenue make it the next logical step, many say.

South Jersey lawmakers, including Sens. Jeff Van Drew (D., Cape May) and James Whelan (D., Atlantic), are pushing for sports wagering at horse-racing tracks, over the Internet, and in Atlantic City's 11 casinos.

The New Jersey bill would permit wagering on professional, college, or amateur sports or athletic events. It would prohibit wagering on college games that take place in New Jersey, or on any game in which a New Jersey college team participates.

A report two years ago by the financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. estimated that sports betting could generate $10 billion annually in wagers in New Jersey alone, translating to about $600 million in revenue for casinos and racetracks, an additional $60 million for the state treasury, and a boost for tourism.

As the NFL sees it, if New Jersey prevails in overturning the federal ban, it could open a Pandora's box for other states to add sports betting - which, the league says, would present a threat to the sport's long-term health.

"It places players, coaches, and other team personnel, as well as game officials, at risk of pressure and threats from gamblers to affect the outcome of a game," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. "If more gambling on single games were legalized, fan interest could be less focused on whether a team wins or loses and more about whether the point spread is covered."

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said it was opposed to all forms of sports wagering, especially as it relates to college sports.

"We believe that it's become a serious problem that threatens the well-being of student athletes and the integrity of college sports," Osburn said.

The four pro leagues and the NCAA quashed Delaware's efforts last year to offer full sports betting.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in August that Delaware could offer only parlay betting on at least three games. A parlay bettor has to be correct on every game to win the wager. The state was prohibited from offering the more popular single-game wagering allowed in Las Vegas.

Delaware hoped sports betting would raise about $53 million in its first year. But with the reduced number of games to wager on, the figure was lower than anticipated, according to the state Finance Department.

In January, Delaware petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Third Circuit Court's ruling and allow betting on all sports, professional and amateur.

"Delaware believes that the state has the right, under federal law, to extend that system to other sports and other kinds of wagers," said Brian Selander, spokesman for Delaware Gov. Jack Markell.

New Jersey's Lesniak said Delaware's lawsuit was based strictly on an interpretation of the federal ban and to what extent Delaware could offer sports betting, while the New Jersey suit, still pending, concerns the constitutionality of treating four states differently from the others.

He said the 1992 federal ban violated the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause by giving preference to four states, and interfered with a state's right under the 10th Amendment to pass laws that affect only its citizens.

The referendum bill in New Jersey likely will go to a floor vote in the state Senate in the coming weeks. To pass, it needs a two-thirds vote in each house.

Lesniak, who presided over Monday's Senate Economic Growth Committee hearing at the Atlantic City Convention Center, said its passage could "send a strong message to the court and the Congress that the will of the people of New Jersey is behind this effort."

Some believe sports betting could help revive struggling Atlantic City. Its casinos reported a 21.4 percent decline in gross operating profit last year, according to figures released Monday by the state Casino Control Commission.

"Sports betting would undoubtedly benefit Atlantic City, but not as a direct source of revenue," gaming analyst Weinert said. "The chief benefit is that it drives substantial indirect revenue from sales of hotel rooms, meals, and entertainment, as well as revenue from other forms of gaming."

Yet there is a potential downside, said Arnie Wexler, a consultant who works with casinos to establish responsible gambling programs.

"When you add new gambling or expand gambling, you get more people trying it and more addiction," said Wexler, a recovering compulsive gambler who used to bet on sports through bookmakers in New Jersey and New York.

"You're going to see not only people who have gambled on sports before," he said, "but also people who had never bet on sports who are going to try it for the first time because it would become a legal activity."