The Latest: Dr. J bets on Philly to repeat as NFL champs
OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) — The Latest on the start of legal sports betting in New Jersey (all times local):
3:35 p.m.
A Philadelphia basketball legend is betting on Philadelphia's football team to repeat as champs.
Julius Erving, better known to Philadelphia 76ers fans as "Dr. J," marked the start of legal sports betting in New Jersey by putting $5 on the Philadelphia Eagles to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
He made the bet Thursday morning at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, at the same time that New Jersey's Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney, put $200 on the Green Bay Packers to win the title.
Their bets closely followed the first wagers made legally in the state at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, where Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy bet $20 apiece on Germany to win the World Cup soccer tournament and the New Jersey Devils to win hockey's Stanley Cup.
10:45 a.m.
New Jersey has launched sports betting.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy kicked off a new era of gambling in the state, making the first official bets on Thursday morning at Monmouth Park, a racetrack near the Jersey shore.
He placed two $20 bets — one on Germany to win soccer's World Cup and another on the New Jersey Devils to win next year's Stanley Cup.
New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case last month that cleared the way for all 50 states to offer sports betting should they choose.
The Borgata casino planned to start taking bets 30 minutes after Murphy made his.
Other casinos and tracks eventually plan to offer sports betting, but none has announced plans to do so in the next few days.
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12:15 a.m.
Like a fellow New Jersey governor did 40 years earlier, Gov. Phil Murphy is set to kick off a new era of gambling in the state.
The Democrat will make the state's first legal sports bets Thursday morning at Monmouth Park, a racetrack near the Jersey shore in Oceanport.
It will have echoes of 1978, when then-Democratic Gov. Brendan Byrne and entertainer Steve Lawrence opened Resorts casino.
New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case last month that cleared the way for all 50 states to offer sports betting should they choose.
The Borgata casino plans to start taking bets 30 minutes after they begin taking bets at Monmouth Park.