The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have given the NCAA and four major professional sports leagues until September 29 to formally respond in a case regarding New Jersey’s ongoing legal battle over bringing Las Vegas style sports betting to the state.

In what is considered good news for proponents of the legalization of sports betting in New Jersey, twelve judges of the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit have issued the directive which will at the very least enable the continuation of their case.

State officials joined the Christie administration in requesting an, “en banc” review by the entire circuit of last month’s decision to block the latest efforts to legalize sports wagering, considered by the administration to be crucial to increasing state revenue, by a three-judge panel. Such requests are usually denied without prior response from the victor of a previous appeal, according to Florida-based sports and gaming law attorney, Daniel Wallach, as obtained on northjersey.com, which is what a 2013 majority decision to uphold the 1992 federal law banning the activity in all but four states did. In addition, the same scenario played out last month when a revision of the state’s sports betting law was ruled against by another three-judge panel. According to Wallace, request for an “en banc” rehearing by the entire bench only took place once last year and twice this year to date.

According to the rules of the court, the filing request by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals indicates that a minimum of four of the judges either want a full rehearing to take place or an explanation from the leagues as to why there shouldn’t be one, according to Dennis Drazin, attorney and Monmouth Park’s operator, adding, “It means hope is still alive.”