Many of the bill’s supporters said that legal online gambling would have resuscitated the state’s struggling economy, including the Atlantic City casino industry. They estimated that the creation of an online gaming site would have created 1,500 jobs and added more than US$35 million in annual tax revenues.
The primary legal issue Christie cited for his veto was that the proliferation of internet gambling would allow casino gaming to spread outside of Atlantic City. Voters passed a referendum in 1976 that restricted casino gaming to the seaside resort town. Christie said that the bill did not address the idea of another referendum to allow for statewide online gaming.
Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business, said that Caesars Entertainment, the largest casino conglomerate in the world, was “very much opposed” to the New Jersey legislation. Gros said that David Satz, a lobbyist for Caesars, was “instrumental” in persuading Governor Christie to veto the bill.
