New York has had sports betting since June 2019 but the push for online betting is still not over. This is because in-person betting is allowed in the state. This means that New Yorkers will have to go to the four upstate casinos with legal sports betting licenses.
When sports betting was launched in the state in 2019, it didn’t seem to get the enthusiasm from the local punters that many people expected. The locals were keener to place bets online and many of them would hop on the train to New Jersey to place their bets with their mobile devices. Some would still wager on offshore casinos as this is technically not illegal in the US.
For sports that are not that popular yet in the US, like football and cricket, American fans would rely on offshore casinos to place their bets. Cricket fans may check the 10Cric app review and download link if they want to place bets on sports events like the Indian Premier League. There were still many New Yorkers who are placing their bets outside of the state.
However, Senator Joseph Addabbo who has been one of the people spearheading the legislation of sports betting in the state believes that online or mobile betting can launch in New York before this year ends with a bit more push and the right initiatives.
Addabbo spoke to Casino.org and said, “I remain optimistic that should it be in the budget April 1st, with a little initiative, our state government can get it up and running by Sept. 9th, which is the first day of the NFL football season.”
About New York Sports Betting
In May 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States has stricken down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992. This enabled each state in the US to legalize and regulate local sports betting operations. The following year, New York was then able to launch its sports betting operations at commercial casinos.
Even before in-person betting was launched in the state, there was already a push for online betting. However, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appeared to be not in favor of this. He believes that the legislation of online betting equates to changing the state’s amendments and that will be a long process. When the budget discussion for the state ended last year, mobile betting wasn’t at all mentioned.
Things are looking up, however, for people who have been pushing for online wagering. This year, Governor Cuomo appears to think differently about this matter. It’s understandable as New York has been struggling to get more revenues for a while now. Last year has been tougher for the state as it is one of the most impacted by the pandemic.
According to the New York State Division of the Budget’s 2021 first quarterly update, the state will experience a decline of 14.5 billion US dollars in General Fund revenue. There was also a 15.3 percent All Funds tax decline on the budget forecast and this means that the state will have a total loss of $62 billion US dollars through 2024. With that, the state and Governor Cuomo are exploring more options to counter the state’s deficit.
On January 6, 2021, Cuomo spoke about their options and he mentioned the sports betting market. He said, “New York has the potential to be the largest sports wagering market in the United States, and by legalizing online sports betting we aim to keep millions of dollars in revenue here at home, which will only strengthen our ability to rebuild from the COVID-19 crisis.”
He also acknowledged how New Jersey has been successful in regulating sports betting. This is something that many already know including Senator Addabbo.
Addabbo once described how New York is doing in terms of this compared to other states. The senator said, “We’re that car in the right lane with four wobbly wheels, and we’re limping along. And these other fast cars like (New) Jersey and Pennsylvania are whizzing by us. That’s an odd spot for New York to be in.”
Mobile Betting this 2021?
Governor Cuomo stating that mobile betting could be one of the solutions to get more state revenues ignited the spark of excitement for many online gamblers and for the people who have been pushing to have this. Whether this means that there will be local operations of mobile or online betting this year is still hard to say. It is possible but we may have to wait until the latter part of the year.
