MLE Splits From Peers, Supports Legalized Sports Betting In NJ

MLE Alone Among Top Five Sports Leagues with its Pro Wagering Stance

New York, October 21, 2014 Major League Eating (MLE), the governing body of stomach-centric sport worldwide, announced today that it supports the legalization of sports wagering in the state of New Jersey. This public expression of support clashes with recent legislation filed by the four other top professional sports (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA) and the NCAA, all of whom want to quash the legalization of sports betting.

“Typically we march in lockstep with our peers in professional sports, but New Jersey is facing a tough fiscal road ahead, and sports betting has the potential to provide much needed revenues to the state.” said Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating. “It is clear that these other Leagues harbor an animus toward New Jersey, that they fear competition and that they desire anything but a level playing field.”

Last week, Governor Christie signed a law that cleared the path for legalized sports betting in his state. The Governor’s move is viewed as a step to revitalize Atlantic City, which is struggling with a flurry of casino closings. Roughly 10,000 people have lost their jobs as a result of these closings, and New Jersey is losing much needed, gambling-related tax and tourism revenues. The lawsuit filed today by the other sports leagues seeks an injunction just days before legalized sports betting is set to occur at Monmouth Park racetrack. The suit claims that 10 tellers manually taking bets on this weekend’s NFL games will cause irreparable harm to the plaintiff’s multi-billion dollar interests.

When pressed on why his League has publicly split from its peers to support sports wagering, Shea said: “As a sports-minded organization, MLE does not shy away from competition. If New Jersey can profit from the popularity of eating, more power to them. What’s more, these other leagues never even asked us to join in their suit. They’ve long been very clique-ie like that.”