With New Jersey recently attempting to legalize sports betting, the question we now face is should California join in?

As of now New Jersey has yet to have been granted legal sports betting. A U.S. District Judge in Trenton, N.J., granted a temporary restraining order to the NCAA, NFL and any other major professional sports leagues.

According to Judge Michael Shipp, “sports leagues would suffer irreparable harm if sports betting is legal.”

New Jersey is trying desperately to help its ailing gambling industry. Four Atlantic City casinos have already closed, and thousands of workers have been laid off.

In California, sports betting isn’t legal, so many people turn to online gambling sites. Betting any “real money” or anything of “value” on outcomes of a sports event is not legal in California. California does not authorize, legalize, license, or permit any sports betting operator to run a sports betting service on their premises. California also does not allow any online gambling business to run online sports books within the state. The legality of betting via offshore sports books remains in question for another day, but for now online wagering is popular and generally unobstructed by federal authorities.

We already have state lotteries, horse races, and casinos. Sports betting can make sports even more popular. When’s the last time you heard of someone going to a horse race just to watch the action? That’s because it doesn’t happen. Americans crave money and adrenaline. And what better way to get the blood pumping than betting on your favorite team to win it all?

Lets face it,there are not too many things as American as laying down a few dollars on a football game or picking the little-name college in March Madness to run the table. Moments like these are when people come together and celebrate the most. Being able to bet on the games without having to travel to another state or suspicious online sports betting site would make it that much easier. But, oddly enough, sports gambling is illegal in all but four states—Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon.

In a small poll conducted with 20 students around campus at Skyline College on their opinion if sports betting should be legal or illegal in California? 13 out of the 20 felt sports betting should be legalized.

Skyline student Joshua Barrett said “It would simplify things if sports betting was legal in California because it is a hassle for it not to be.”

As of now there are no mentions of California trying to legalize sport betting.