• About Us / Contact
  • Responsible Gambling
This site contains commercial content
SportsHandle
  • US Sports Betting
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • Ohio
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Pending States
    • California
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Missouri
    • North Carolina
  • Canada
    • Ontario
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
  • Sportsbook Apps
    • FanDuel
    • BetMGM
    • Caesars
    • PointsBet
    • BetRivers
  • Tools
    • Sportsbook Bonuses Explained
    • Sports Betting Revenue Tracker
    • Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Partnership Tracker
    • Expected Value
    • Sports Scores And Odds Apps
    • Sports Betting Twitter
  • News
No Result
View All Result
SportsHandle
  • US Sports Betting
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • Ohio
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Pending States
    • California
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Missouri
    • North Carolina
  • Canada
    • Ontario
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
  • Sportsbook Apps
    • FanDuel
    • BetMGM
    • Caesars
    • PointsBet
    • BetRivers
  • Tools
    • Sportsbook Bonuses Explained
    • Sports Betting Revenue Tracker
    • Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Partnership Tracker
    • Expected Value
    • Sports Scores And Odds Apps
    • Sports Betting Twitter
  • News
No Result
View All Result
SportsHandle
No Result
View All Result

Albany Law Panel: New York State Must Stop Dragging Feet On Mobile Sports Betting

Weeks before an April 1 budget deadline, panel urges New York leaders to bring online wagering to Empire State

Matt Rybaltowski by Matt Rybaltowski
March 12, 2021
in Regulation
Oneidas RFA Process

Shutterstock

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

With a looming deadline for the passage of New York’s new fiscal year budget less than a month away, the debate on legalizing mobile sports betting in the Empire State continues to intensify.

On Wednesday, a panel of renowned industry experts tackled a litany of issues associated with proposed plans to bring online sports wagering to New York, ahead of an April 1 deadline to enact the state’s 2021-2022 budget. As neighboring New Jersey continues to set monthly records for online handle, the panelists agreed on one piece of the intricate puzzle: New York cannot afford to drag its feet on legalizing mobile sports betting any longer.

In January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reversed a long-standing position against mobile sports betting, an activity he previously expressed resistance to bringing to New York. Citing the state’s historic economic strife brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuomo pointed to online sports wagering as a mechanism for helping curb a historic budget deficit estimated at north of $50 billion over two years.

ICYMI: I'm proposing legislation to authorize mobile sports wagering in NYS.

Online sports betting is a rapidly evolving market and allowing it in New York will keep revenue here at home that can help us rebuild post-COVID.#SOTS2021

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 11, 2021

Embroiled in two scandals, including allegations of sexual harassment by two former staffers, Cuomo had his emergency pandemic powers stripped by the New York legislature earlier this month. With Cuomo occupied by the controversies, numerous stakeholders have wondered aloud whether his administration can devote enough time to answering germane questions on mobile sports betting related to the state budget.

The scandals were not addressed during Wednesday’s hour-long webinar. The webinar, titled “The Future of Sports Wagering in New York,” marked the second part of the school’s 2021 Warren M. Anderson Legislative Seminar Series.

After a seventh woman accused Cuomo of sexual harassment on Friday, Cuomo described the latest accusations as simply untrue. In response to the allegations, Cuomo has asserted that he does not believe that he acted inappropriately.

Breaking down the bidding process

Under Cuomo’s proposal, the New York Gaming Commission would be tasked with selecting a platform provider or multiple providers for operating mobile sports betting through a competitive bidding process. As part of the process, Cuomo supports a model comparable to the public-private partnership in New Hampshire, where the state lottery awarded an exclusive contract to DraftKings for sports betting.

Daniel Wallach is the founder of Wallach Legal LLC, a law firm devoted exclusively to the burgeoning sports betting industry. During the webinar, Wallach outlined issues related to a competitive bidding process that could ensue if mobile sports betting is included in the state budget. Two states in particular, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, employ lottery-run models for sports betting, but each has a state population of around 1 million. The population of each state is about 5% of New York’s population. While the model may work in smaller states, it could be more difficult to implement in the nation’s largest jurisdictions.

According to Albany Law, through November 2020 operators in the two states generated gross gaming revenue of less than $60 million combined dating back to the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to overturn PASPA. By comparison, New Jersey sportsbooks took in revenue of $725.5 million, a more than 10-fold increase throughout the period. A considerable portion (up to 20%) of New Jersey’s sports betting proceeds come from New York City customers, who reputedly make short drives across the George Washington Bridge specifically to place wagers on their mobile smartphones.

“To look at New Hampshire as a model for New York just doesn’t make sense given the land mass and the population size,” Wallach said during the webinar.

The bidding process could be lengthy, the panelists cautioned. If there is a line item on mobile sports betting in the budget, the state’s gaming commission will still need to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to select one or more operators to offer online sports wagering statewide. In New Hampshire, it took the state about two months to draft an RFP, Wallach explained. The timeframe from the passage of a law to when a sportsbook accepts its first mobile wager could take as long as six months when you take into account the procedural requirements associated with the RFP process, he added.

While a bid challenge may not stop the implementation of mobile sports wagering, it could introduce another layer of complication that could be avoided, Wallach noted. Since Cuomo’s announcement in January, a number of stakeholders have expressed concern that New York could sole-source an online sports wagering contract to a single operator. If a sportsbook is granted exclusivity to New York’s mobile sports betting market, the bid process could be met with legal challenges.

Recently @AmericanGaming made the case for non-monopolistic online market in NY

"Competition helps create customer-focused, innovative marketplaces that can effectively stifle the illegal market & generate much-needed tax revenue."

(by @MattRybaltowski)https://t.co/vw8S3KVXcO

— Sports Handle (@sports_handle) February 1, 2021

Server issues

A thorny issue for New York political leaders in the coming weeks pertains to language surrounding the constitutionality of mobile servers that sportsbook operators would use to process online sports wagers. On the legislative side, a bill sponsored by Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., S 1183, requires the server in question to be physically located in a “licensed gaming facility,” in accordance with gaming commission regulations.

New Jersey allows iGaming from anywhere in the state because the servers associated with the online gambling are housed at the Atlantic City casinos, and thus the bets are still considered as being placed at the casinos. The New York mobile sports betting bill works the same way.

— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) October 21, 2020

The bill also enables casinos to enter into agreements with sportsbook operators or so-called affiliates to allow authorized bettors to register and fund accounts on mobile sports betting platforms offered by the casinos. Any professional sports venue, licensed racetrack, or off-track corporation qualifies as an affiliate under Addabbo’s bill.

Bennett Liebman, a government lawyer in residence at Albany Law School, also took part in Wednesday’s webinar. Liebman, who formerly served as the state’s deputy secretary for gaming and racing, expressed several concerns regarding server issues in mobile sports betting. In other areas of business across the state, the site of a server is not used to determine the location of commercial transactions. Liebman pointed to areas such as insurance, banking, sales tax, and stock transfer tax when constructing his argument.

Looming deadline

For fiscal year 2022, online sports betting is projected to bring the state $49 million in revenue, according to Cuomo’s Executive Budget projections. There is a step-up to $357 million by fiscal year 2023, along with further projected increases to $493 million by FY 2024-25. As a result, the panelists urged state leaders to settle any differences that impede the legalization of mobile sports betting in New York.

Both chambers of the New York Legislature are scheduled to release their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year on March 15.

New York State “should be a part of online wagering, that’s the bottom line,” said Stacey Rowland, who serves as vice president and general counsel at Rivers Casino & Resort.

ShareTweetShare
Matt Rybaltowski

Matt Rybaltowski

Matt is a veteran writer with a specific focus on the emerging sports gambling market. During Matt's two decade career in journalism, he has written for the New York Times, Forbes, The Guardian, Reuters and CBSSports.com among others. In his spare time, Matt is an avid reader, a weekend tennis player and a frequent embarrassment to the sport of running. Contact Matt at [email protected]

Related Posts

atlantic-city-boardwalk
Legislation

New Jersey Lawmakers Latest To Condemn Amount Of Wagering Advertising

March 20, 2023
get a grip graphic
Industry

Get A Grip — The Week In Sports Betting: New York Cools Off

March 17, 2023
Load More

Top Stories

taylor mathis

Taylor Mathis Got Sacrificed At The Altar Of Responsible Gambling

March 20, 2023
fanduel baseball wall

Premade Same Game Parlays Are Sucker Bets

March 13, 2023
maginfier-over-small-print

Read The Fine Print: A Proposed Federal Rule Could Change Everything For Indian Gaming

March 6, 2023
roman reigns wwe

Colorado Denies Report Stating That It’s Considering WWE Wagering

March 8, 2023

State Sports Betting Guides

Ohio (U.S. state) flag waving against clear blue sky, close up, isolated with clipping path mask alpha channel transparency, perfect for film, news, composition

Ohio Sports Betting – Where To Play, Bonus Offers And Promo Codes

by Brian Pempus
March 22, 2023

Downtown Detroit at twilight (Shutterstock)

Michigan Sports Betting – Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks, And FAQ

by Brett Smiley
March 22, 2023

VA captial

Virginia Sports Betting – Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks And Bonus Offers

by Brett Smiley
January 17, 2023

nj flag

New Jersey Sports Betting — Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks, And FAQ

by Brett Smiley
March 22, 2023

pa online sportsbooks

Pennsylvania Sports Betting – Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks And Bonuses

by Brett Smiley
October 6, 2022

Canada Sports Betting Guides

Canada Sports Betting – Best Sportsbook Apps & Bonus Offers

British Columbia Sports Betting – Legal Update, Available Sportsbooks, and FAQ

Ontario Sports Betting – Legal Status And Where To Play

SportsHandle

  • Analysis
  • Casino
  • Features
  • Horse Racing
  • Industry
  • Legal
  • Legislation
  • Opinion
  • Podcasts
  • Poker
  • Politics
  • Promotions
  • Regulation
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Better Collective

This website is owned and operated by Better Collective USA. Trademarks and copyrights referenced on this website are and shall remain the exclusive property of their respective owners and/or licensors. Please be sure to visit the operator’s website(s) to review their terms & conditions. We advise you to read these carefully as they contain important information. Copyright Β© 2023 USBets.com | Better Collective USA
21 Play Responsibly
Gamble Aware West Virginia
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
GameSense

Search Sports Handle

No Result
View All Result
  • About Us / Contact
  • Responsible Gambling

No Result
View All Result
  • US Sports Betting
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • Ohio
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Pending States
    • California
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Missouri
    • North Carolina
  • Canada
    • Ontario
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
  • Sportsbook Apps
    • FanDuel
    • BetMGM
    • Caesars
    • PointsBet
    • BetRivers
  • Tools
    • Sportsbook Bonuses Explained
    • Sports Betting Revenue Tracker
    • Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Partnership Tracker
    • Expected Value
    • Sports Scores And Odds Apps
    • Sports Betting Twitter
  • News

loading

Please wait while you are redirected to the right page...