Sports betting is coming to New York this year, but it appears that divisions are widening between Governor Andrew Cuomo and key lawmakers over what form it will take.
At issue is whether remote betting, which is where the big money lies, can be legislated, as leading backers in the Senate and Assembly assert, or requires a constitutional amendment, which is the governor’s position.
The dispute began when Cuomo gave sports betting the green light earlier this year by including it in his fiscal 2019-2020 budget address𑁋but only at the four commercial casinos where it was authorized in the casinos’ 2013 enabling legislation. With that caveat, the state Gaming Commission has begun circulating draft regulations that could allow the casinos to start taking bets this spring.
The industry’s point men in the legislature, Queens Democrat Joseph Addabbo in the Senate and Westchester Democrat J. Gary Pretlow in the Assembly, disagree about the need for a constitutional amendment—a process that includes a public referendum and would delay the advent of mobile phone betting by three years—and they say they have legal opinions to back it up.
Speaking on March 1 at a seminar on gambling expansion at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, Pretlow said, “I am 150 percent convinced that under the current legislation that we have in place, mobile sports betting can be introduced in the state of New York.”
Both he and Addabbo also have expressed the belief that the governor will come around. But when Pretlow went so far as to tell the seminar he already had, he got a sharp rebuke from Cuomo.
Pretlow said, “I have it on good authority that the governor, who has said it was unconstitutional, that he has backed away from that.” Last Monday, Cuomo responded by labeling that assertion “patently false”.
Pretlow said also that he’s readying legislation that is expected to allow in-person wagering at Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden.
“That is one of the changes, that we would open it up to have affiliates such as Madison Square Garden, which has expressed an interest in doing this. I think it’s a great idea.”
But Addabbo, who has already introduced enabling legislation in the Senate, has adopted a more cautious tone.
“To do it right, I think we need to do it in a very methodical manner,” he told the Cardozo seminar. “I see sports betting being rolled out over a couple of years, to make sure we do it both legally and respecting the integrity of the sport, which is very important, and protecting the consumer. And then I would suggest we do roll it out to the stadiums and other venues at some point.”
Meanwhile, the four commercial casinos—Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, Resorts World Catskills Casino Resort in Monticello, Tioga Downs Casino Resort in Nichols and del Lago Resort & Casino in Waterloo—say they’re ready to launch in-person wagering as soon as the rules are finalized.
“The status is, we’re just waiting for what the status is,” said Rivers counsel Stacey Rowland. “We will be ready to take the first bet the minute we are allowed to do it.”
But the divide over remote betting isn’t expected to close anytime soon. The amount of potential revenue at risk could be sizable. In New Jersey, sports bettors laid down $385 million in January alone, around $305 million of it online or via mobile devices. Ernst & Young, which forecasts $33 million in annual revenue from in-person wagering in New York, says the take would quadruple if remote betting is allowed.
Addabbo, speaking from the Senate, which historically has been the friendlier of the two houses when it comes to gambling expansion, added that if enough lawmakers get on board the governor could be persuaded to alter his position.
“I do believe, if it came to the floor in the Senate, I believe I have the votes to do it.”
Pretlow will face a tougher task in the Assembly and has acknowledged as much. “If the governor continues to say it’s unconstitutional, then I won’t have the votes because the leadership of the Assembly won’t (move the bill forward).”
