Already hugely popular, legalized and regulated around most of the world, sports betting has become an international phenomenon. Especially so in the digital age, as fans wager on their favorite sporting events in a wide variety of different ways. Remarkably, despite having the largest audience for sports anywhere on the planet, the biggest potential market didn’t start getting legal options to wager until May 2018.
Nevertheless, since the state of New Jersey successfully won a US Supreme Court ruling to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), in theory, this has paved the way for every state throughout the country to pass their own sports betting legislature. ESPN reports that by mid-2020, 18 states had introduced full-scale legalized sports betting.
This information also details how seven other states have recently passed bills, 24 states are still in the process of introducing and debating new bills, while just six have yet to present motions that would bring legalized sports betting to their states. It’s also worth noting that even in those states which have passed bills to legalize sports betting, there are still some considerable limitations.
While it’s a fact that New York is widely considered to be the financial capital of the world, somewhat surprisingly, the city and state hasn’t moved as quickly to fully legalize sports betting in the same way that other states around the country have. Yet if you want to bet on sports via the internet or a mobile device, you just have to cross the Hudson River and head into New Jersey, to do so. Anyone looking to take advantage of the promotions and bonuses available at sports betting sites can do so in neighboring Pennsylvania, too.
Fully legal sportsbooks are open for business at several upstate brick-and-mortar casinos, while horse racing and fantasy sports wagering are also available with accompanying regulation. Current law in New York requires that wagering on sports is operated exclusively in designated casino venues, and while there has been lengthy negotiation regarding the possibility of making online and mobile sports wagering legal at some point, it doesn’t seem likely any new legislature will arrive in 2020. Why? Well, as Action Network recently highlighted, it’s all very political.
As expected, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo does not mention mobile sports betting in his State of the Budget address. Cuomo notes briefly toward end of speech that the state is not including any new casino revenues in the FY 2021 budget. Cuomo is facing a budget deficit of appx $6B pic.twitter.com/nORz0rCkFJ
— Matt Rybaltowski (@MattRybaltowski) January 21, 2020
New York State Senator, Joe Addabbo (Democrat), has lent his full support of legalizing online and mobile sports gambling, highlighting the tax revenues such legislature will generate and pointing to the success of neighboring New Jersey to support his views. Nevertheless, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (Democrat), the older brother of CNN television journalist Chris Cuomo, has only allowed the expansion of sports betting at casino venues and remains strongly opposed to any legislation that would permit online and mobile sports gambling.
Despite being from the same political party, Addabbo and Cuomo remain poles apart when it comes to their views about online sports wagering. Until they can find any common ground, it seems unlikely that mobile sports betting will be available any time soon in New York. Despite projections valuing the iGaming industry at being worth up to $8 billion within the next five years in the US, it looks like the Big Apple is going to be left behind, for now.
