[Written By External Partner]
It’s no surprise that nearly every move in the state’s sports wagering sector earns big headlines, given the junction of conflicting interests, many of which have huge funds. Just as New York’s legalization of smartphone sports wagering will influence the policy of the four main North American professional sports organizations, it might serve as a blueprint for how dozens of new others develop legal markets in the future.
New York City’s legal sports betting sector is now developed enough to compete with Nevada and its neighbor New Jersey. Sports wagering in New York will be examined from both a retail and an online standpoint in this thorough introduction to New York’s sports wagering sector.
Is sports betting legal in New York?
Yes! On January 8, 2022, New York became the first state to legalize online sports wagering. Regulated sports wagering services may now be used to legally place wagers across state borders.
It was in 2013 that the state of New York approved the upstate New York Gaming Economic Development Act. The bill permitted the future acceptance of sports wagers in four yet-to-be-built casinos in New York State, amending the state constitution in the process. Due to a long-standing government ban on sports wagering, casinos were unable to develop sports betting infrastructure at the time. PASPA’s restriction on sports betting was overturned in May 2018 by the Supreme Court, which knocked down the law.
The New York State Gaming Commission adopted a finalized set of rules and regulations back in June 2019 that allow the mentioned Upstate casinos to begin offering authorized sports wagering. Under Article 13 of the state’s Racing Pari-Mutuel, Wagering and Breeding Act, a set of rules that would enable sports betting at gambling establishments was discussed by the Commission during a carefully watched hearing. The proposal was approved by a vote of 6-0, with no one voting against it.
Mobile betting legalization in New York
Past Governor Andrew Cuomo was a staunch supporter of a constitutional amendment to allow sports betting outside of the state’s current Upstate casinos. After a year of negotiating, the previous governor and state lawmakers reached an agreement to allow betting from mobile devices. Players who are interested in this kind of wagering should read all about mobile sports betting in NY, especially with the vast amount of apps available on the market.
And of course, money was the deciding factor. COVID destroyed New York’s state finances, and tax money from smartphone sports wagering would’ve been enormous, to say the very least. In order to have smartphone sports wagering implemented, state authorities set aside their differences. Smartphone sports wagering in New York is regulated by the New York Gaming Commission and proposals were solicited in July 2021 for one or more bookmaker providers to provide smartphone wagering across the state.
Each operator was responsible for specifying in their application the tax rate in which they were prepared to pay to the state. 9 operators will be granted licenses on November 8th, everyone paying a 51 percent tax rate, which would be the highest in the nation by a wide margin. A $25 million prize for a sports wagering license now forces operators to pay a massive tax. It’s not for the faint of heart or wallet to operate in New York City.
Even if just 49 percent of the potential income from smartphone sports wagering in New York is realized, that is still a significant amount of money. There’s no doubt New York will soon overtake New Jersey as America’s top sports wagering state, based on income alone.
Recent history of New York sports betting
Until the end of the 2018 session of parliament, the future of regulated sports wagering in New York was uncertain with the retiring John Bonacic. After serving in the 42nd District for decades, longstanding Republican Rep. Bonacic transferred the baton to Sen. Addabbo, his longtime colleague on the Gaming, Senate Racing, and Wagering Committee.
A farewell present, Bonacic laid the framework to legalize sports gambling in New York. Bonacic submitted legislation to alter the 2013 act’s sports wagering rules in March 2018, months before even the Supreme Court’s judgment. Bonacic said at the time that sports wagering was a way for the city of New York to raise money for educational programs. Even though Bonacic’s plan was never passed during the 2018 parliamentary session, Addabbo’s proposal is primarily based on Bonacic’s blueprint.
In contrast to New Jersey, New York did not provide mobile NFL wagering for the 2019 or 2020 seasons. In the wake of the pandemic, Pretlow’s optimism for legalizing smartphone sports wagering in New York in 2020 decreased. New Yorkers will have to wait for Cuomo to change his mind given the amount of money coming in via taxes, it seems. To make their wagers, New Yorkers may have to wait in enormous queues over the bridge until that time comes.
