New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for the legalization of sports betting in the state’s upstate casinos.
While addressing lawmakers at his State of the State speech on Tuesday, Cuomo said: “We invested in upstate casinos. Let’s authorize sports betting in the upstate casinos.
“It’s here, it’s a reality, and it will help generate activity in those casinos.”
The casinos that Cuomo is referring to are four commercial casinos located in upstate New York.
The casinos are Tioga Downs in Tioga County, Rivers Casino in Schenectady County, Resorts World Catskills in Sullivan County and del Lago in Seneca County.
New York’s 2013 Racing, Pari-mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law contained a section that would allow the four casinos to accept sports wagers in the event that federal law was changed.
After the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018, many industry stakeholders expected New York to capitalize and legalize sports betting but very little progress has been made so far.
However, Cuomo will be submitting a $170bn budget package to state lawmakers this week.
According to a report from Press-Republican, Cuomo intends to use tax revenue from sports betting to help close the state’s deficit which exceeds $3bn for the 2019-2020 financial year.
But before sports betting can be implemented, the state regulators will need to craft some sort of regulations for the activity.
Even with the 2013 bill, it is very unclear what New York sports betting could look like. There is no clear decision on whether it will include mobile and online sports betting or how the state’s horse racing industry will fit into the bigger picture.
Despite the uncertainty, all four commercial casinos that could offer sports betting under the 2013 bill, have entered into partnerships with sports betting suppliers.
Del Lago is partnered with DraftKings Sportsbook, Tioga Downs is partnered with FanDuel, Rivers Casino is partnered with Rush Street Interactive and Resorts World Catskills partnered with bet365.
Even the state’s tribal casinos have begun making preparations for sports betting. The Oneida Indian Nation has entered into a partnership with Caesars for sports betting in the event that the state legalizes it.
