The Race is on For New York Mobile Betting

The back-and-forth between New York legislators with regard to possible expansion of their legal sports betting platform continues, this time with some added urgency. Budget Bills for the upcoming 2022 fiscal year are starting to trickle in among lawmakers in the state and some include mobile sports wagering as part of their future plans. Those Bills reported over the weekend mark the first time the state Assembly has put legalized sports betting in its budget proposal and have about 2 1/2 weeks to be considered, argued, and hopefully passed before another session ends without the modernization of the state’s betting platform.

The state of New York has long been viewed as potentially one of, if not the biggest legal sports betting market in the US. But legislative hurdles and a prior unwillingness to even discuss expansion of their platform beyond its four upstate retail-only gambling facilities has left the New York legal sports betting scene stuck in the mud.

That was until the latest COVID-related budget shortfalls reared their ugly heads and forced lawmakers, including the embattled Governor Andrew Cuomo to look for new sources of revenues to at least mitigate some of the profound effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

An estimated $139.8 million to $174.8 million in annual tax revenue is expected to be generated for tapped-out state and local coffers in New York, making the plan for legal mobile sports betting very attractive for all involved.

“New York has the potential to be the largest sports wagering market in the United States, and by legalizing online sports betting we aim to keep millions of dollars in tax revenue here at home, which will only strengthen our ability to rebuild from the Covid-19 crisis,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Not Having to Look Too Far

Governor Cuomo and the rest of the New York legislature do not have to look too far to see the benefits that an expanded and all-encompassing legal sports betting industry can have on a state. New Jersey, in 2020 took in $6,017,707,104, in bets, and $5.53 billion or about 92% was generated from an online platform that New York legislators have yet to even consider for their state.

The Garden State has reported $11 billion in bets since 2018 which has contributed nearly $100 million in tax revenue for New Jersey. It is estimated that bettors from New York make up about 25% of the dollars spent in the New Jersey legal sports betting scene.

By contrast, New York saw a drop in gross gaming revenue in February. Just $1.15 million in GGR was reported by New York State casinos in February, a drop of $2.42 million from January’s $3.57 million.

About Those Proposed Bills

Over the weekend, lawmakers in New York finally were able to include mobile sports betting in one of its budget proposals presented Saturday. Bill A 3009 is seen as similar to A 1257 which went before the Racing and Wagering Committee and passed its scrutiny by an 11-0 vote in January.

A 1257 would give New York’s four commercial casinos and three tribal operators up to two mobile skins and would allow Off-track betting facilities to partner with one of those casinos to set up wagering kiosks at their facilities. There would be a $12 million licensing fee under the bill and the retail sports betting revenue tax rate would be 8.5% with mobile betting being taxed at 12%.

The New York Senate also got in on the action over the weekend. Bill S 2509B is similar to the one presented in the State House but attempts to expand the state's upstate retail casino monopoly and includes Empire City Casino in Yonkers and Resorts World Casino in Queens as destination resort casinos. The Senate has signaled out downstate casinos as an important factor in their Bill.

The Clock is Ticking

Lawmakers in New York have until just April 1 to bring about some change in the legal sports betting scene. The choice is pretty simple. They can continue to support an antiquated, unsuccessful legal sports betting platform as it exists right now, or lawmakers can move to a more all-encompassing platform in which bettors can place a bet from the comfort of their homes instead of travelling upstate to New York's four casinos.

The fact that legal mobile sports betting is included in the 2022 budget proposals are a good thing. But it is just another step along New York's long road toward sports betting legitimacy. Hope is in the hands of legislators, who will need to find some common ground in the next 2 1/2 weeks and pass some acceptable legislation.

The clock is ticking on the next fiscal year but New York's attempt to modernize their antiquated and underwhelming legal sports betting platform is closer than it has ever been. The next few weeks will be crucial for the state's desires but at this point expanded legal sports betting looks good for the overdue New York scene.