Additional reporting by K. Morrison

When New Jersey filed briefs with the Supreme Court on the future of sports betting last August, many legal experts predicted that the conservative court would rule in favor of Gov. Christie and strike down the Bradley Act as unconstitutional.

After Gov. Christie left office, the action was renamed for the current governor, and on May 14, 2018 the High Court handed state’s rights advocates and legalized betting proponents a victory in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The 7-2 decision drove sp…