New Jersey Residents Favor Legalizing Sports Betting

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind conducted a survey of New Jersey residents to get their opinions on making sports betting legal. New Jersey filed suit against the US stating the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional and violated states' rights. You can refer to a recent post on this blog.

The topic is relevant, and the results are interesting. I would have assumed that, even if a plurality of residents favored legalizing sports betting, that a majority of conservatives would have opposed. That is not the case. With the sole exception of the question of online or internet sports betting, residents approved of the legalization of sports betting in casinos, racetracks and off-track betting (OTB) facilities.

Overall, men are in favor more than women, and liberals and moderates are more in favor than conservatives. But, all groups had a majority (and in some cases, strong) in favor of sports betting. Regardless of what the sports leagues may want, it appears that the people seem to approve of the concept.

The survey questions and responses, broken out by sex and political temperament are shown below, courtesy of the FDU PublicMind website.

a. Would you favor or oppose making sports betting legal in New Jersey at Atlantic City casinos?
	All	gender				ideology
		men	women		liberal	moderate	conservative
Favor	63%	69	58		70	67	56
Oppose	32%	27	36		27	28	38
Unsure	6%	4	6		3	4	6

b. Would you favor or oppose making sports betting legal in New Jersey at horse-racing tracks?
	All	gender				ideology
		men	women		liberal	moderate	conservative
Favor	63%	65	61		68	67	57
Oppose	30%	29	31		27	26	37
Unsure	7%	6	8		5	7	6

c. Would you favor or oppose making sports betting legal in New Jersey at off-track betting parlors?
	All	gender				ideology
		men	women		liberal	moderate	conservative
Favor	48%	51	45		52	51	46
Oppose	43%	42	44		42	42	45
Unsure	9%	6	11		6	7	9

d. Would you favor or oppose making sports betting legal in New Jersey by telephone and the internet?
	All	gender				ideology
		men	women		liberal	moderate	conservative
Favor	26%	30	23		34	27	23
Oppose	66%	63	69		63	65	70
Unsure	8%	7	7		3	7	6

(FDU PublicMind)