Golden Nugget Online Gaming has concluded an agreement with a New York casino to operate mobile sports betting as a skin once it’s legalized in the state.
Golden Nugget struck a deal with Tioga Downs Casino Resort near Binghamton in the south-central part of the state, joining Penn National in gaining something of a pole position in a state that experts believe has the potential to be the most lucrative betting market in the country.
The deal also runs 20 years and similarly would operate under a Tioga Downs skin or skins. Golden Nugget would pay Tioga Downs a percentage of the net gaming revenue subject to a set minimum.
“New York is key to our growth strategy and we look forward to the state embracing online gaming,” Golden Nugget Online President Thomas Winter said.
A recent study completed by Spectrum Gaming estimates the state’s four commercial casinos and three gaming tribes could take in more than $1 billion in online sports bets a year, which would lead to roughly $100 million in taxes for the state, depending on how the market is structured.
And that’s the question, and in New York it’s a highly charged one.
Governor Andrew Cuomo opposed the expansion of betting onto the internet, and his opposition has resulted in a limited market in which bets must be placed in person at a casino.
Then the pandemic hit, devastating the state’s finances and prompting the governor to walk back his opposition. But he has said he will only support legalization through a single platform run as a state-sponsored monopoly similar to a government lottery.
It’s a position that has placed the administration at odds with mobile’s advocates in the Legislature, who have introduced bills authorizing a more open-market approach designed around multiple privately operated skins, similar to what Penn and Golden Nugget are looking to establish with the Rivers and Tioga Downs partnerships.
“A state the size of New York certainly warrants open competition and a free-market approach,” said Kaplowitz.
