With just days to go last week before the New York Legislature called it a year, the Senate acted as expected to pass a bill that ensures the debate over remote sports betting will be high on the agenda when lawmakers reconvene in January.
S 17D, which would permit betting online and by mobile phone, sailed through the upper house in a 57-5 vote without debate last Monday, creating a sort of legislative placeholder for the 2020 session, when advocates will renew their efforts to get a skeptical Assembly to act positively on the issue and then, hopefully, prevail on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to move off his position that a constitutional amendment is needed to legalize mobile betting.
The governor’s opposition has been a major sticking point in the Assembly, which left a companion bill to S 17D to die in committee.
“There’s road block in the Assembly,” the bill’s sponsor, Mt. Vernon Democrat Gary Pretlow, said. “It can’t move. The leadership is stuck on the constitutional question.”
What this means for the time being is that sports betting in New York will be limited to wagers placed in person at the four commercial casinos that opened upstate between 2016 and 2018—in Schenectady, the Finger Lakes, the Catskills and near Binghamton—and the seven tribally owned casinos in the greater Syracuse region, in the west in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca and the far northeast near the Canadian border.
Proponents of remote wagering argue that by limiting the potential market in this way in the fourth most populous state in the country—not to mention effectively shutting out New York City’s vast pool of bettors—the state is giving up millions in tax revenue and licensing fees.
They point to the example of neighboring New Jersey, where remote betting has accounted for more than 80 percent of the $3 billion-plus that’s been wagered since the state legalized sports gambling last summer.
“We’re losing tens of millions of dollars if we don’t do this,” Pretlow said.
S 17D’s sponsor, Queens Democrat Joseph Addabbo, says a New York market that includes a mobile option could generate $10 million-$30 million in taxes annually and another $48 million from one-time license fees.
“(New Jersey’s) legislature and certainly their governor have been very proactive, and because of their proactiveness they have addressed any major issue with their sports betting mobile component and have done very well financially,” he said.
Unless there’s a change of heart from Cuomo and the Assembly, it could be years before mobile betting is permitted. If, as Cuomo insists, a constitutional amendment must pass, it takes two consecutive session of the legislature and then a vote of the people to pass such a measure.
Meanwhile, the New York tribes are quickly getting into the game.
The Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, which is operated by the Oneida Indian Nation, says it will be able to offer sports betting this summer now that the state gaming commission has put regulations in place.
The regulations are actually passed but need to be published in the State Register, which will make them official. Once that happens state licensed casinos will need to have applications to offer sports betting approved before they can go live.
At that point the four commercial casinos and seven tribal casinos will be able to offer “sports wagering lounges,” according to the regulations.
The regulations forbid wagers on collegiate games based in New York, amateur and youth sports, horse races or non-sports events. Each casino must apply to offer specific kinds of bets.
The Oneidas says they haven’t finalized what kinds of wagers they will offer. The Nation plans to hire 60 sports book positions. This includes managers, ticket writers, bartenders, servers, cooks and food runners. It has already hired Las Vegas sports book veteran Justin Arnett to direct sports book operations.
The Nation previously partnered with Caesars Entertainment to install “The Lounge with Caesars Sports” at all of its casinos.
Nation Enterprises CEO Ray Halbritter said in a statement: “Our new sports books will exceed the already high standards of excellence that have established our venues as New York’s preeminent gaming destinations.” He added, “By bringing in a highly experienced professional like Justin, who knows this industry inside and out, and through our partnership with Caesars, we will bring the best of sports betting to upstate New York.”
