New Jersey lawmakers move to ban college sports betting partnerships

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A bill making progress through the New Jersey legislature would ban higher education institutions such as colleges and universities from partnering with sportsbooks.

The Assembly Higher Education Committee advanced a bill on Sept. 23 that would ban most partnerships between sports betting groups and state colleges and universities.

Initially introduced in April, Assembly Bill 4113 would prohibit partnerships or contractual agreements between a sports wagering operator or intermediary and an institution of higher education, including a college or university athletics department or booster club. The bill would encompass deals that would give a sports betting operator the right to advertise in the institution’s stadiums and other facilities, in digital and broadcast sports content, or through other means.

An amendment made at the bill’s second reading would permit associations that provide “experiential learning opportunities” for students.

Jennifer Keyes-Maloney, executive director of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, said the amendment ensures the bill strikes the “proper balance” between protecting students and student-athletes and “recognizing that this can be a valuable career for them.”

The Assembly bill’s partner bill in the Senate, S2155, was referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee this month.

Currently no US collegiate sports betting partnerships

While New Jersey seeks to formalize the prohibition on college-sportsbook partnerships, the gambling industry took action long ago.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as both athletic departments and sports betting operators looked for different sources of revenue, a raft of partnerships between colleges and sportsbooks sprung up. In 2020, the University of Colorado-Boulder became the first school outside Nevada to buddy up with the sportsbook, teaming up with PointsBet. Several high-profile schools followed Colorado’s lead between 2020 and 2023. Notably, Michigan State and Louisiana State both signed deals with Caesars Sportsbook.

However, after rising backlash, the trend began to reverse from the start of 2023. Since last spring, the American Gaming Association has prohibited its members from signing new sponsorship deals with NCAA athletic departments and mandated that all members had to terminate existing sportsbook deals by July 1.

AGA’s membership does not include either Caesars or PointsBet, but PointsBet’s University of Colorado and University of Maryland deals and Caesars’ arrangements with MSU and LSU were all ended last spring after mounting pressure. By that point, Louisiana had passed a state law that explicitly banned any postsecondary education institution from forging “promotional agreements” with sportsbooks.

Regulators in numerous other states have also clamped down through measures including restricting how sportsbooks can advertise around college sports and in some cases banning bets on in-state college teams and/or college player props.

Education work continues

The work continues from institutions, regulators, operators and other stakeholders to keep the relationship between college sports and betting healthy.

In March of this year, the NCAA launched its Draw the Line campaign that aims to educate student-athletes on the effects of sports betting while also addressing problem gambling for all who consume and participate in college sports.

And earlier this month, the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA), made up of eight leading sports betting operators, unveiled a new national college responsible gambling education campaign in partnership with EPIC Global Solutions, Kindbridge Behavioral Health and the Toronto-based Responsible Gambling Council (RGC).

The ROGA campaign aims to support the college-aged demographic with not only gambling education but financial literacy tools and other learning components.