{"id":114501,"date":"2019-09-09T17:43:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T00:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=114501"},"modified":"2019-09-09T18:00:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T01:00:21","slug":"new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Judge Zaps Claim for Shopping Mall Sports Book at Former Garden State Park Racetrack"},"content":{"rendered":"

An effort to establish New Jersey\u2019s first standalone retail sports book<\/a> in a shopping mall on the site of the former Golden State Park racetrack was shot down last week by a federal judge in Camden.<\/p>\n

\"Garden
The owner of a shopping mall that was once the Garden State Park (pictured) has no right to open a sports betting outlet because of a 20-year covenant that rejects gambling operations by anyone one other than the former owner. (Image: Market Place)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cherry Hill Towne Center Partners (CHTCP) now owns the site on which the racetrack once stood, and has redeveloped it into a thriving mixed-use retail and residential hub.<\/p>\n

But the developer believes it has the right to launch a sports book inside the shopping mall because New Jersey\u2019s gaming laws authorize sports betting at casinos and racetracks \u2013 and that includes its two defunct tracks: Garden State Park and the Atlantic City Raceway.<\/p>\n

CHTCP — which is part-owned by Jack Morris, who has a stake in Hard Rock Atlantic City — is eager for a piece of a multibillion-dollar sports betting market that has recently superseded Nevada as the biggest in America.<\/p>\n

20-Year Old Covenant Still Binding<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the former owner of the track, Greenwood Gaming subsidiary Garden Park Racing, claimed a restrictive covenant drawn up 20 years ago forbids \u201cwagering of any sort \u2026 at any time by any party other than\u201d the ownership group and its affiliates, according to court filings.<\/p>\n

\n

CHTCP sued GPR and Greenwood, demanding a judgment that the covenant was either unenforceable or couldn\u2019t be applied to sports betting because it hadn\u2019t existed legally in the state when the agreement was drawn up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But US District Judge Renee Bumb begged to differ, ruling that the covenant could \u201conly mean exactly what it says.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Wagering activities … of any sort\u2019 must include sports wagering, because sports wagering is a \u2018sort\u2019 of wagering,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Bumb also criticized the manner in which the lawsuit had been filed, with CHTCP forgoing mediation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would appear that, rather than accepting (GPR\u2019s) invitation to \u2018discuss (the) matter,\u2019 Cherry Hill Towne Center raced to the courthouse and, on June 31, 2018, filed this suit,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe court finds the covenant unambiguous and not overly broad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anti-Competition Claim<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Greenwood operates\u00a0Parx Casino\u00a0in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, which has sports betting<\/a> operations and is around 20 miles from the Garden State Park. It also owns off-track betting parlors in Philadelphia and Valley Forge and the Atlantic City Race Course, New Jersey\u2019s only other obsolete race track that would qualify for sports betting.<\/p>\n

CHTCP has described Greenwood\u2019s position as \u201ca blatant attempt to restrain competition so they can secure a monopoly for their own sports wagering operations,\u201d adding that its actions were \u201crestraining trade\u201d and violating the wishes of New Jersey to allow sports betting and revenue derived from it.<\/p>\n

The judge also rejected this argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the facts and circumstances of this case, the court does not find that the covenant itself unreasonably restrains trade,\u201d she said. \u201cThe covenant does not \u2018burden all or most available locales to prevent them from competing in\u2019 sports wagering. Rather, it only burdens the GSP Property, therefore the court holds that this factor does not weigh against reasonableness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An effort to establish New Jersey\u2019s first standalone retail sports book in a shopping mall on the site of the former Golden State Park racetrack was shot down last week by a federal judge in Camden. Cherry Hill Towne Center Partners (CHTCP) now owns the site on which the racetrack once stood, and has redeveloped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":114502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Jersey Judge Zaps Claim for Sports Book at Garden State Park Mall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Garden State Park Racetrack is likely not to become the site of New Jersey\u2019s first standalone sports book after judge sides with former owner.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Jersey Judge Zaps Claim for Sports Book at Garden State Park Mall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Garden State Park Racetrack is likely not to become the site of New Jersey\u2019s first standalone sports book after judge sides with former owner.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-10T00:43:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-10T01:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mall.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/\",\"name\":\"New Jersey Judge Zaps Claim for Sports Book at Garden State Park Mall\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mall.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-10T00:43:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-10T01:00:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Garden State Park Racetrack is likely not to become the site of New Jersey\u2019s first standalone sports book after judge sides with former owner.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-jersey-judge-zaps-claim-for-sports-book-at-garden-state-park-mall\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mall.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mall.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"The shopping mall that was once the Garden State Park has no right to open a sports betting outlet due to a 20-year covenant that rejects gambling operations owned by anyone one the former owner. 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