On Thursday, the Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino held the opening ceremony for its sports betting lounge.
Sports betting operations also went live at Point Place Casino in Bridgeport, which is also operated by the Oneida Indian Nation.
Sports betting at Turning Stone
The Oneida Nation’s sports betting venues are the product of a partnership with Caesars Entertainment. Under the partnership, the Oneida Nation will offer sports betting through a Caesars branded sports betting space, “The Lounge with Caesars Sports.”
In a press statement, Oneida Nation leader Ray Halbritter said: “The Lounge with Caesar Sports will feature the most up-to-date elements in sports betting and cutting-edge technology.”
The Caesars branded sportsbook at Turning Stone is 2,700 square foot in size and features 10 TVs spread across the main floor, a bar area as well as a 500 square foot video board. It is located in the main entrance of the casino.
The Turning Stone sportsbook is also the very first sportsbook to open in the central New York region. The sportsbook at the Point Place venue is also a Caesars branded lounge.
Sports betting operations are expected to go live at the Oneida’s Yellow Brick Road Casino later this summer.
Sports betting in New York
With the launch of sports betting at the two Oneida venues, there are now a total of four land-based sportsbooks available to residents in the Empire State.
New York officially launched legal and regulated sports betting in July, with the opening of the sportsbook at the Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady. The FanDuel branded sportsbook at Tioga Downs in Nichols also opened in the same week.
As per state law, sports betting in New York is restricted to land-based betting at certain venues. Two more commercial venues are expected to offer sports betting in the coming months, these include the Del Lago Resort & Casino and Resorts World Catskills. Tribal venues in the state are also allowed to offer sports betting to residents.
Mobile sports betting, however, has yet to be legalized. New York lawmakers were unsuccessful in their attempts to legalize mobile betting in 2019.
As a result of this, the state could miss out on a significant amount of revenue as punters are likely to travel across state lines to New Jersey and place a quick mobile bet rather than travel to one of the upstate venues.
Lawmakers are likely to attempt to modernize New York’s sports betting laws and legalize online and mobile betting in 2020.
Elsewhere in the US, Penn National Gaming has struck market-access deals with DraftKings, PointsBet, theScore and The Stars Group for sports betting.
