Gambling Ads: Enough is Enough, Says Majority of New Jersey Voters

Posted on: March 10, 2025, 03:14h. 

Last updated on: March 10, 2025, 03:14h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

• Polling shows New Jerseyans are fed up with gambling ads
• New Jersey has a robust commercial gaming market
• A majority of state voters would support limiting gambling adverts

Gambling advertisements are seemingly everywhere. From highway billboards to commercial breaks and social media, consumers are bombarded with marketing suggesting how easy and fun it is to win big, whether it be by betting on sports, spinning a slot, or putting $100 on black.

New polling in New Jersey suggests a strong majority of state residents have had enough of the incessant gambling ads. The latest Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll asked almost 1,500 registered voters in the state for their opinions on the casino, sports betting, and iGaming ads.

More than three in four said they support limiting when and where gambling ads can run in New Jersey. Just 17% said they oppose restricting gaming entities to advertising during certain times and on certain mediums.

Bipartisan Issue 

The FDU Poll found that limiting advertisements for sports betting and other forms of gambling has widespread support that transcends politics, gender, race, and age.

73% of men and 79% of women support limitations, while 77% of whites, 68% of blacks, and 71% of Hispanics do, too. The under-30 demographic expressed 70% support, while the 31-44 age range was at 73%, 45-64 at 78%, and 65+ at 79%. However, it’s worth noting that the FDU Poll included the language, “… especially when those ads are seen by children” in the gambling advertising question,” which could have skewed support in favor of limitations.

If either party is looking for a slam dunk issue in New Jersey, this is it,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at FDU who is the executive director of the poll. “Even the groups most likely to take part in gambling, like young men, seem to be fed up with all of the ads.”

New Jersey is home to the second-richest gaming market in the United States behind only Nevada.

In 2024, oddsmakers in New Jersey kept almost $1.1 billion of bettors’ bets. New Jersey sports bettors risked over $12.7 billion on professional and college sports through a licensed sportsbook, with 96%, or about $12.2 billion, being facilitated online.

New Jersey is one of only seven states with legal iGaming. Online slots, table games, and poker generated gross gaming revenue of nearly $2.4 billion.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement says there are 29 “internet gaming sites” licensed to conduct “continuous 24-hour internet gaming operations.”

Gambling Ads Years-Long Ire

This certainly isn’t the first time New Jerseyans have spoken out against gambling ads. Longtime Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (R-Essex) first expressed hostility to New Jersey’s airwaves being congested with sports betting and gambling commercials in 2022.

Caputo said the gaming industry’s marketing strategies are “obnoxious” and “obscene.” But he conceded that there’s little that lawmakers in Trenton can do about the matter because most of the local television stations serving New Jersey are based in neighboring New York and Pennsylvania.

The First Amendment additionally protects commercial advertising from most government interference. One exception is how companies that sell products containing nicotine and tobacco are regulated.

Federal legislation called the SAFE Bet Act is expected to be filed this week. The statute, proposed by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-New York) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), would restrict sports betting advertisements during all live sports programming and between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.