Governor Cuomo Offers Tiny Expansion For NY Sports Betting

• Mobile sports betting is not legal in New York yet.
• Governor Cuomo’s budget plan allows for sports betting to take place on the casino floor.
• New York is losing potential sports betting tax revenue to New Jersey.

ALBANY, N.Y. – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gives sports betting a small expansion during his budget presentation on Tuesday.

How To Fix A Deficit

The biggest budget problem that New York is currently facing is the $6 billion budget deficit. Gov. Cuomo said that he will not support new taxes to help fix the deficit problem the state is facing.

However, he has suggested using New York sports betting to help mitigate the problem. New York sports betting is currently restricted to being at sportsbooks in upstate New York. There are a few that are open, but sports betting cannot take place outside of the betting lounges.

Gov. Cuomo’s new budget plan changes that. Now, sports betting can take place within the entire casino grounds instead of being restricted at only the sports betting lounges. However, that kind of expansion is unlikely to fix the massive New York deficit.

To fix the deficit, New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo is petitioning for mobile betting in New York. People living in New York City have to travel for hours to get to upstate New York casinos.

Instead of doing that, many bettors are heading to New Jersey to place their bets. The New Jersey border is much closer to New York City than upstate sportsbooks. Because of that, New York is losing much of its potential tax dollars to New Jersey.

“Mobile sports betting is benefitting New Jersey — with approximately 25% of the state’s mobile wagering business coming from New York residents — and it could provide the same positive results for New York,” said Sen. Addabbo.

But Sen. Addabbo might get his wish. He recently passed a sports betting bill out of his committee and sent it to the Senate Finance Committee. If his bill passes through the legislature, New York could be well on its track to having statewide sports betting.

But attempts to pass similar bills have failed in the past and Gov. Cuomo does not seem interested in the prospect. The state of New York has an uphill battle to climb if they want to legalize mobile wagering.

News tags: Andrew Cuomo | Joseph Addabbo | mobile sports betting | New Jersey | New York