New Jersey gov. Phil Murphy (D) on Tuesday signed a bill that prohibits colleges and universities from signing partnership deals with sports betting companies.
The bill will prevent sports betting operators from promoting their brands on campus and inside athletics facilities such as stadiums.
Key Takeaways
- An estimated 10 percent of young men demonstrate problem gambling behaviors
- Sportsbooks can no longer receive marketing opportunities at schools or their stadiums and arenas
- New Jersey also recently made progress toward banning college player props
Senate Bill 2155 was sponsored by Sens. Joe Cryan (D-20th District) and John McKeon (D-27th District).
The new legislation will prevent athletics departments and booster clubs associated with schools and universities, along with the institutions themselves, from entering into agreements with sports betting companies.
In addition to being blocked from advertising on campus, sports betting companies will not be able to receive promotional opportunities on school-sponsored digital and broadcast media—for example, a company logo or a live odds read on a TV broadcast.
“The proliferation of sports betting by college students is a troubling trend that can have a destructive impact on their lives,” said Sen. Cryan, who is also the chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee. “Our college campuses should be places for learning, not underage gambling.”
There were several examples of sports betting companies entering partnership deals with colleges across the nation. The University of Colorado and PointsBet – which sold its North American assets to Fanatics in 2023 – as well as Caesars and LSU and Michigan State University all had deals in place, though they did not stick for long.
Protecting the students
A 2024 poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University found that 10 percent of young men indicated behavior that put them at risk for problem gambling, well above the national average of three percent.
Despite the best efforts of regulators in many states, colleges are an easy target for sportsbooks. Many students don’t have much income and regularly gamble small amounts of longshot parlays in hopes of becoming rich overnight - however, those parlays rarely ever cash.
Sen. Cryan also blamed campus-focused sportsbook promotions for the recent rise in negative betting behavior by students.
“Our college campuses should be sanctuaries for learning and for healthy activities for young people,” said Sen. McKeon. “They should not be inundated with messages that entice them into gambling habits that can put them into debt and have corrosive effects on their psychological and emotional well-being.”
Increasing consumer safety
New Jersey sports betting is one of the largest makets in the United States. The state’s legal sportsbooks accounted for $1.1 billion in revenue from a $12.8 billion handle in 2024, an 8.7 percent revenue increase on the total reported in 2023.
Despite that, the state has invested in safe gambling standards. New Jersey bettors cannot wager on in-state colleges or universities, even if they are competing in a tournament with out-of-state opponents.
A Senate committee also recently approved a bill that would eliminate college player prop bets from the available betting catalog, though no additional votes have been held since.
