New York’s legislature has yet to approve online sports betting, so the only bets come courtesy of the state’s eight brick-and-mortar casinos.
Reports have circulated that New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie could possibly include online and mobile sports betting in an upcoming revenue bill, according to Gambling.com.
“When we return to session, the mobile sports betting part of the bill will be in some kind of a revenue package, but we have to wait to see when and if we will be getting any federal stimulus help from the federal government,” said New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., long a proponent of online sportsbooks.
Addabbo hopes the proposal becomes law by the Super Bowl in February.
The New York Senate passed mobile sports betting bill last year, but it did not get through the Assembly.
“It is frustrating to us as a state, because we know a lot of New York residents go to both of those states to wager,” Addabbo said.
The current proposal enables the four New York operators to partner with a single online sports betting platform. The likely sportsbooks will be Bet365, BetRivers, DraftKings and FanDuel.
“It’s a starting point for a state that has certainly shown no great rush,” Addabbo said. “We can start with single skins when passed and implemented and then over the next three years, expand to other places like stadiums, arenas, etc. It is so rational and such a no-brainer to do it, but we have to continue the process.”
