New Jersey is waging a battle in federal court to legalize sports betting in the state. Only about 1 percent of up to $500 billion that Americans wager each year on sports is legal, leaving the rest unregulated and billions of dollars of potential tax revenue unclaimed. Standing in New Jersey's way are the four major professional sports and the NCAA, which say legalized gambling would threaten the integrity of their games and billion-dollar businesses. Nevada, Delaware and Montana are the only states with some form of sports gambling. New Jersey voters approved a sports gambling referendum in 2011, which led to the passage of a state law that allowed betting in Atlantic City casinos and horse tracks. But the sports leagues went to court to stop it. In March, a federal judge agreed, but the state took its case to an appeals court in Philadelphia.
