LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 29: The sports book at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino displays the betting line for the upcoming fight between WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on April 29, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two boxers will face each other in a unification bout on May 2, 2015 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The state of New Jersey’s odyssey to legalize sports gambling will soon reach a conclusion.

The state was in court on Wednesday, fighting for the right for legalized sports gambling, arguing its case in front of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reports Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post.

The state has tried to make sports betting legal twice before, but has been blocked twice by the same court, after challenges from every pro North American sports league. The third trial was an “en banc” hearing which means the arguments were heard by all 12 Third Circuit judges.

The Post reports the issue is whether New Jersey is violating federal law, or whether the current laws are unjust and have violated 10th amendment rights.

“At the center of the issue is the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a 1992 federal law that prohibits all but four states — Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Delaware — from authorizing sports gambling. The questions raised Wednesday sought to not only determine whether New Jersey was violating PASPA in its attempts to legalize sports gambling, but whether PASPA is even constitutional.”

After a failed attempt to legalize sports gambling in 2012, a three-judge panel ruled New Jersey was free to repeal its bans on sports gambling. New Jersey did so – which is when pro sports leagues successfully sued them to stop.

The Post interviewed gaming-law attorney Christopher L Soriano and he said there are three likely outcomes from the ruling.

“.. there seems to be three camps on the Court: Those who believe PASPA is unconstitutional (and thus NJ gets regulated sports betting); those who believe PASPA is constitutional but NJ has complied with PASPA in its partial repeal (and thus NJ gets unregulated sports betting in casinos and racetracks) and those who believe PASPA is constitutional and that NJ’s partial repeal violates it (and thus no sports betting).”

As the Post notes, New Jersey needs to convince a majority of the 12 judges to win, and three of them have already ruled against the state. The ruling is expected to be announced in June.

Despite it looking bleak for New Jersey, many think this case and public sentiment will likely cause a change in policy and perhaps sooner than later.

About Liam McGuire

Social +Staff writer for The Comeback & Awful Announcing. Liammcguirejournalism@gmail.com