Across three hours Thursday afternoon in a federal court in Trenton, N.J., the initial battle began in a long legal war over a potentially seismic shift in the way sports are consumed in America.
The dueling lawyers on each side of NCAA v. Christie presented initial arguments on the constitutionality of a 1992 federal law that effectively bans full sports wagering outside of Nevada.
New Jersey voters, legislators and its governor – the case's namesake, Chris Christie – have pushed to open full sports books in Atlantic City casinos and horse tracks across the state. They passed a law last year and planned on issuing licenses last month.
"If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us," Christie declared last May.
Thursday they came to stop him, lawyers representing a parade of sports organizations (NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) as well as the United States Justice Department, who jumped in late last month.
It is a heavyweight fight, pairing off the Justice
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