Mobile Sports Betting in NY At +110 Odds To Pass, According to Key Lawmaker

• Sports Betting at four upstate NY casinos was approved back in 2013, however, mobile sports betting was not included in that law.
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo believes that the state will require mobile sports wagering to be approved via voter referendum.
• The 2019 legislative session will conclude by mid-June.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Mobile sports betting in New York has been a strong issue of debate for months now in the NY legislature. Leading the way for the measure is Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, who last week at the Betting Sports America Conference showed optimism for it passing.

“If I were a bookie? +110,” said Pretlow when asked about the current odds for mobile NY sports betting. “I have 74 [colleagues] in favor, so I just need two more to get it on the floor vote.”

However, Pretlow has yet to convince one of the most important people on why the legislature should pass a sports betting bill this year.

“The governor is still pushing back-hard,” said Pretlow. “For whatever reason, I don’t know the reason. But he doesn’t want to do this just yet. In the future, I’m pretty sure he’ll see the light.”

As of now, in-person sports betting has been approved at four upstate casinos and at tribal gaming facilities. The New York State Gaming Commission created regulations for those venues back in January of this year, and sportsbooks are expected to officially open sometime this upcoming summer.

What is Governor Cuomo’s stance on Mobile Sports betting in NY?

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who earlier this year left mobile sports betting out of the state budget, has remained wary of expanding to mobile sports wagering operations all year.

We have sports betting that you can do through a casino and we are trying to support our casinos, which, you know, we did primarily upstate as an economic development vehicle,” said Governor Cuomo in his State of the State speech back in January.

Last month, he reiterated his stance on sports betting as a whole during an interview with Alan Chartock of WAMC.

“Sports Betting, first of all, does not make you that much money. New Jersey has sports betting, it’s on TV all the time. You can’t turn on the darn TV without seeing it. They raised something like $13 million dollars – $13 million dollars is a rounding error in our state. So, I don’t even think the economic benefit is there.”

However, the biggest issue for the executive office isn’t just the financial factors, but also the legality of passing a mobile New York sports betting bill without first getting voter approval.

According to the NY constitution, any gambling expansion that takes place in the state has to be approved by voters first before it can be enacted.

If that issue is not bypassed, it could be three years before mobile sportsbooks launch in the Empire State.

How Do Supporters Of Mobile NY Sports Betting Feel?

When it comes to Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, the financial benefits of approving the gaming expansion are plentiful.

“I’ve tried to inform him that over $10 billion is being bet in New York State right now, illegally, and if we can capture half of that, it would be beneficial to the state,” said Pretlow.

According to the recent revenue figures from the New Jersey Gaming Commission, 80 percent of sports bets come from mobile devices so it would almost be necessary for NY to have the same capabilities in order to reach that figure that Pretlow is estimating.

As for the legality concerns, New York Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. has made his case.

Last month, Addabbo Jr. was able to provide fellow state lawmakers a brief from five different independent law firms that concluded that mobile wagering could be passed with the current form of the state constitution.

However, under those interpretations, only the four approved upstate casinos would be able to offer mobile sports betting at their facilities.

Either way, it seems as though most state officials are on board with approving mobile sports wagering in NY. It is more just a matter of where and when at this point.

News tags: mobile sports betting | New York | New York sports betting