The battle to legalize mobile sports gambling in New York State is making some progress. It still seems that a lot more work is required to get the end result that many wish to see. There are hurdles to overcome, so the wait continues.
While many other American states have legalized sports gambling, New York residents just keep on waiting. All very frustrating when it was neighbouring New Jersey who did so much work campaigning for change.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has a few problems of his own to deal with. He hasn’t been too helpful when it comes to mobile sports gambling. He claimed that there would need to be a change made to their constitution but that isn’t the case.
The Governor seems to be becoming a bit more helpful now. Discussions have been taking place that will hopefully lead to legalization. March saw revenue from online sportsbooks being include in the state’s new budget. Highly promising news indeed and it won’t do their revenue calculations any harm. Cuomo believes that the tax revenue received by the state could be the highest in the USA. He’s dreaming of over $500 million a year heading into their coffers.
Legalized Sports Gambling
There are still problems ahead though with Cuomo having his own ideas on how legalized betting would work. He wants the state to be controlling everything to do with sports gambling. This could see a commercial partnership being created between sportsbook operators and the New York Gaming Commission. If that does happen, intensive competition is expected between potential bidders to get the licences. Such a move doesn’t sit well with those who want to see an open market.
One major hurdle that has to be climbed over are the agreements with tribal nations. The Oneida Indian Nation has had autonomous control over the region’s gaming or the past eight years. An agreement was made with New York State covering many counties. There’s also the Seneca Nation who have agreements in place for other counties.
The hope is that the tribal nations will be allowed to introduce a mobile sportsbook. This could be done at a commercial casino. However, persuading the Governor that this is the answer isn’t going to be easy. He has a bit of a history of ensuring that laws passed don’t include anything that he doesn’t like.
Joseph Griffo
New York Senator Joseph Griffo believes it would be “unfair” not to include the tribal nations in any new laws. Such legislation would, in his view see them “be disenfranchising millions of New Yorkers from participating in mobile sports betting and from the economic benefits it generates.”
Involving the tribes in new legislation would see the state possibly making more tax revenue than New Jersey. Without them being included the figures would drop. As each day goes by, New York State is missing out on tax revenue. Money that becomes increasingly needed due to the problems caused by the pandemic.
