New York: Discussion About Mobile Betting

Sports betting as part of the recovery plan

Since the United States Supreme Court (USSC) struck down the US-wide sports betting ban in November 2018, over 18 states have legalized sports betting. Several other states are in the midst of reform, including New York, where the debate about optimal regulation of the booming market has been going on for some time. There are currently several competing models that primarily relate to solutions for mobile sports betting.

Recently, Senator Joseph Addabbo and Representative Gary Pretlow presented new proposals to regulate mobile sports betting in New York. Addabbo's bill SB1183 and Pretlow's bill A1257 were filed in the House last week and seek to amend the state's racing, pari-mutuel wagering law to allow (among other things) indigenous tribal casinos to offer mobile sports betting.

The bills follow a commitment from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who recently announced he would support the legalization of mobile betting - albeit only through the state lottery for now - in 2021. The statement was made as part of his State of the Nation address against the backdrop of the corona crisis. The regulation of sports betting was mentioned in the goals for the coming legislative period.

With New York in a difficult financial situation due to the pandemic, the legalization of mobile betting was announcedigt to generate higher tax revenue. Cuomo has so far been an opponent of Online sports betting and argued that the constitution only allows betting in northern casinos and therefore a constitutional amendment is needed to allow mobile betting. Proponents like Senator Addabbo, however, argued that the constitutional rules would only mean that online sports betting servers would have to be housed in northern casinos. In principle, it is possible to introduce mobile betting without changing the constitution.

Up to 14 brands should be allowed

Addabbo previously introduced legislation to legalize mobile sports betting in 2019, but it was defeated in the House after Cuomo vehemently contested the bill. The senator tried again in 2020, but Cuomo and the House again rejected the reform. With the current draft, Addabbo could be successful, as New York urgently needs additional incomeigt.

Addabbo has argued in the past that New York's lack of regulation causes many sports fans to travel to New Jersey to place bets. In November, New Jersey recorded a record betting market turnover of $931.6 million. Of this, $872.1 million was placed online. According to the senator, New York would be wasting enormous financial opportunities.

If the new draft is accepted, large sums of money could be generated: Licensees would be expected to pay a fee of $12 million. There would also be a gross sales tax of 12 percent. Each operator would be able to operate two sub-brands under its license. Based on the state's four casinos and three tribal operators, up to 14 brands would be allowed in the market.

There would also be the possibility that other venues such as sports stadiums and betting offices would be allowed to participate in the market as partners of the casinos. For example, betting kiosks would be operated on site, as is already the case with William Hill in the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. The case is. A tax of 0.2 percent would be levied on sports betting, which would flow back to the respective sports organizers as a license fee, with in-play betting only being permitted using official league data.

Three-tier betting model is being planned

It remains to be seen whether the model will actually be implemented. So far have been mobile sports betting merely is listed in the state's official objectives as an effective remedy against financial difficulties. All that is clear so far is that legalization should take place, with the government wanting to rely on a three-tier model of betting.

Level One bets are traditional bets that are determined by the final outcome of a sporting event. Level Two (Live or In-Play Betting), on the other hand, covers all bets placed during the game that do not relate to the final result. Finally, level three refers to all other types of bets that are not mentioned in the first two categories. Sports betting providers like Betway are likely to be looking forward to the planned legalization and are certainly already preparing for it.

Governor Cuomo recently called for mobile betting to only be offered through the state lottery instead of opening the market to private operators. Even though many states have already legalized sports betting, Cuomo said, the rights mostly lie with land-based casinos. In contrast to the lottery, this brings a lot of money for the casinos, but not for the state. Further comments are expected soon.

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