March Madness In NJ: Sarlo Pushes To Expand College Betting

• The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will be hosted in New Jersey in 2025.
• Senator Paul Sarlo wants to adjust the state’s rules on collegiate betting to allow NJ sportsbooks to host betting lines.
• The legislation presented by Senator Sarlo would remove prohibitions on college sports betting so long as they are a part of the tournament.

TRENTON, N.J. – The NCAA has just announced that the March Madness Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held in New Jersey. This raises some issues for NJ bettors as the law prohibits local books from hosting betting lines on collegiate events in the Garden State.

In order to allow NJ to participate in March Madness betting, Senator Paul A Sarlo has put forth legislation that would allow games in the tournament to be wagered on in NJ.

The new legislation would allow NJ sportsbooks to host betting lines while also allowing the original college sports betting laws to remain unaffected.

March Madness In New Jersey

Those betting on March Madness in New Jersey will not have to worry about being restricted during the tournament as Senator Sarlo is already pushing forth legislation.

The legislation will create a loophole for the tournament. All games played by the NCAA tournament specifically will be allowed to be wagered on in the state despite current college basketball betting laws.

“New Jersey has become the country’s biggest sports betting market, and the Meadowlands is the largest sports wagering facility in the state,” said Senator Sarlo, (D-Bergen/Passaic). “This is an important opportunity we have to capitalize upon. We need to support and sustain this growing market that is fast becoming a significant part of our regional and state economies. March Madness is a high-profile event on the sports betting calendar and we should be a key player.”

The tournament will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ in 2025. This gives ample time for the new legislation to be voted on and approved. Seton Hall University will be serving as the host school.

The importance of the new legislation is to maintain the integrity of the New Jersey sports betting market while also allowing New Jersey bettors to partake in betting on the tournament.

The March Madness tournament is one of the biggest events in legal sports betting and the Garden State does not want to miss out on all the potential earnings.

News tags: March Madness | NCAA | New Jersey | Newark | Paul Sarlo | Prudential Center | Seton Hall University | Trenton