New Jersey’s appeal of the federal ban on sports betting was recently rejected by the Federal Appeals Court Third Circuit, but industry operators and bookmakers are still hopeful things will change soon.

New Jersey’s argument is strong and points towards the unconstitutionality and violation of state sovereignty of the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (or PASPA), which restricts sports wagering nation-wide, except for the state of Nevada. This situation has left Nevada with a legal monopoly on race and sports betting with the exception of Delaware, Montana and Oregon which are allowed to sell parlay cards on NFL games.

In New Jersey, popular support for sports betting is evident; almost 70 percent of voters approved the enactment of a New Jersey sports betting law which was introduced in 2011 and quickly followed by an enabling law in State Legislature. But the National Football League, along with the other leagues representing mayor sporting events like basketball, hockey and baseball, went to court and blocked the implementation of this law.