Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden Eying New York Sports Betting Legislation

• Current New York sports betting legislation has only approved four upstate casinos
• No state with legal sports betting has allowed in-person stadium betting

ALBANY, N.Y. – It has only been a little over a month since the New York State Gaming Commission gave preliminary approval to four upstate casinos to offer sports betting. The casinos have yet to open their sportsbooks, but N.Y. stadiums are already looking to get in on the action.

The Madison Square Garden Company, in an email to CBS2, wrote: “There are several areas, such as onsite gaming, we’d like to explore with the state and our league partners.”

It seems as though they have since caught the attention of several state officials. Two of which, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow and Senator Joseph Addabbo, have both recently spoken about the subject.

Pretlow, who plans to introduce new sports betting legislation this week, announced last Friday that he will include provisions for stadiums unless he hears negative feedback.

Addabbo, on the other hand, wants to see the process emerge more slowly.

“I see sports betting being rolled out over a couple of years, to make sure we do it both legally and respecting the integrity of the sport, which is very important and protecting the consumer. An then I would suggest we do roll it out to the stadiums and other venues at some point,” he said.

As of now, only Washington D.C. has enacted laws allowing their stadiums to host sportsbooks, but they have not started those operations quite yet.

Why This Legislation Might Not Be Necessary

Writing laws to specifically allow stadiums to offer sportsbooks might not be the only way to allow people to bet in those venues.

Neighboring state New Jersey does not allow its stadiums to offer this type of gambling. However, because they allow for state-wide mobile betting, residents are able to watch the game live and choose from a number of different legal online betting sites to place their wagers.

In January New Jersey sportsbooks saw a total handle of $385 million dollars, 80% of which came from online or mobile apps. The state was able to keep a sizable return from tax revenue as well.

Other states have also caught on-board, such as West Virginia who unveiled the state-wide sports wagering app “BetLucky” last December. Pennsylvania has also enacted a law to allow their casinos to offer state-wide online sportsbooks which would be available inside stadiums.

Although, in order to legally enact a similar law in New York some state officials, including N.Y. Governor Andrew Cuomo, have argued that there has to be an amendment to the state constitution.

If this is the case then mobile sports betting may not have a chance. According to a Siena College Poll conducted last month only 44 percent of voters would potentially approve of such a ballot measure.

The process of how to enact mobile wagering is still being debated by state officials. But, this poll creates more of a sense of urgency for state lawmakers to enact sports betting at stadiums now if they want to be able to maximize tax revenue from this type of gaming sooner than later.