New York’s Seneca Indian Nation doesn’t offer sport betting yet at its three casinos, and has given no indications as to when it will. Even so, the tribe is looking for somebody to run it all.
Last week, the position of executive director of sportsbook and interactive gaming appeared in postings on the tribe’s website and on other internet job boards, according to news reports.
The post calls for someone to oversee the overall direction and management of all activities related to sportsbooks and online gaming though the latter is not yet legal in New York at the Senecas’ Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca and Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo.
In June, the state Gaming Commission finalized regulations governing sports betting that allow only wagers placed by customers physically present at the properties. Remote wagering is on hold while various political factions in Albany try to sort through its legality absent an amendment to the state Constitution.
Since the rules went into effect, the Oneida Indian Nation has launched bookmaking at its flagship Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona and its Point Place Casino in Bridgeport, with a third book set to open at the tribe’s Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango in time for the start of NFL season.
The Saint Regis Mohawk Nation likewise has set a fall opening at its Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort in Hogansburg in the northeastern part of the state, near the Canadian border. Sportsbooks also are up and running at the three of the four commercial casinos in New York: Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, Tioga Downs Casino Resort near Binghamton and del Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre in the Finger Lakes.
The Senecas currently are mired in a revenue-sharing dispute with the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo, a battle that’s winding its way through the federal courts. It’s not known what impact, if any, it will have on the tribe’s sports betting plans.
As it stands, the tribe is asking that candidates for the executive director’s position have 10 years of industry experience, a broad knowledge of sports gambling and an understanding of related technology.
The job will be based in Niagara Falls.
