New York Sport Betting Bill Amended to Permit In-Stadium Wagering

Land-based and mobile sports betting legislation in New York was amended by the two bill’s authors and originators, Senator Joseph Addabbo and Assembly member, Gary Pretlow. Their alterations are, in a nutshell, permitting city’s sporting arenas to offer sports betting to patrons and visitors.

On June 6th, both bills – Addabbo’s S17 and Pretlow’s companion bill A6113 – were amended in the NY Assembly in a way that substantially expands the array of outlets in which sports betting would be considered legal.

The state still doesn’t have sports betting legalized, but this could change within the next several months.

Where Will New Yorkers be Able to Place Wagers

New York Racing Association (NYRA) and off-track betting locations would be allowed to offer mobile sports wagering in their kiosks…

…effectively permitting them to launch betting along with New York State’s four casinos.

However, the properties that offer video lottery terminals and racinos will be allowed to launch their own sports betting twelve months after it goes live in casinos and the aforementioned locations. Sports arenas are also included among s to licensed sports betting operators, as defined by the bill – meaning that casinos can legitimately partner up with stadiums in order to help them offer sports betting.

Who is Eligible?

There is another catch though:

This will only be permitted in NY counties where a stadium does not have an existing . This makes Manhattan’s Madison Square garden eligible.

Bronx’s Yankee Stadium, Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre, Buffalo’s New Era Field and Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum are also eligible. Unfortunately for the following venues, The New York Jets, NY Giants and Citi Field are not allowed to engage their visitors in sports betting as per these same reasons – at least not within 20 months.

Putting the Stop to Black Market

Addabo shed light on this matter and said that the changes have been made in order to fix some concerns from the original bill.

“I continue to believe that legalizing sports betting, and enabling people to place wagers from their phones and other devices, has tremendous potential to create jobs and raise significant funding for education and other vital public programs. This amended bill expands on where and how an individual can place a sports wager.”

He added that, together with Pretlow, he will work with all interested parties in bringing legal sports betting to NY and is very concerned that illegal markets continue to blossom while bettors’ money floods to New Jersey.

In regards to that, Pretlow has said that “billions of dollars are wagered on black market by New Yorkers…

…and has added that “by enabling the mobile sports wagering component, we will be able to capture a majority of this illicit practice while further protecting our consumers. Senator Addabbo, our staff, and I have been working continuously to craft legislation that is considerate of all major stakeholders.”

Nearing the End of the Road

Addabbo’s and Pretlow’s bills were originally filed in January and their sole aim is to legalize sports betting across all channels. The license fee would cost operators $12 million, land-based facilities would need to pay 8.5% on revenue, while mobile tax would rise to 12%.

The NY legislative session ends on June 19th. Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who would need to sign the bill into law has previously suggested that an amendment was needed to allow mobile wagering.

Source:

“NY betting bill amended to permit in-stadium wagering”, igbnorthamerica.com, June 7, 2019.