The Highlights
- Monmouth Park in New Jersey is targeting May 28 as the first date for accepting legal sports wagers.
- "We would defer to the legislature if they have any different views, but I know the legislature is going to move swiftly on this," said Dennis Drazin, president and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park.
New Jersey is wasting no time following Monday's landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled the federal ban on sports betting to be unconstitutional.
Monmouth Park is targeting Memorial Day to begin accepting wagers, assuming legislation and employee training is completed.
"When they told me the 28th I was a little concerned because it’s a Monday, and I would like to try to do it before the weekend," Dennis Drazin, president and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, told the Asbury Park Press. "But with all the logistics, getting everyone trained, that is the date we are targeting now."
Drain added: "We would defer to the legislature if they have any different views, but I know the legislature is going to move swiftly on this."
William Hill will be running Monmouth Park's sportsbook operations, with the companies converting the existing William Hill Sports Bar into a fully-functioning sportsbook in the coming weeks.
According to the Asbury Park Press' story, Monmouth Park and William Hill spent a cool $2.5 million building out the sports bar over the past four years. And William Hill is required to spend $5 million on betting infrastructure.
With that in mind, it's no surprise that they are aggressively pushing to open their doors and work out the kinks before the 2018 NFL season kicks off on Sept. 6 with a game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles.
In case you're curious, the defending champion Eagles are 4.5-point home favorites.
We'll continue covering this story as more details become available.
