Is New York Ready to Take the Next Online Gambling Step?

It would be an understatement to say that online/mobile sports betting in New York have been a rousing success. After all, New York sports bettors pushed more than $2.0 billion in sports betting handle through licensed mobile sites in just over 30 days. That’s a record among the U.S. states that have already legalized sports betting. At a standard hold rate of 7%, the $2.0 billion in sports betting handle would convert into $71.4 million going into the state of New York’s tax coffers.

Given this smashing success, it raises the question are New Yorkers ready to play online/mobile casino games of chance for real cash. According to New York Sen. Joseph Addabbo, the answer is a resounding yes. New York gamblers will recognize Addabbo and the state Senator who brought them the right to enjoy betting on sports from the comfort of home through mobile sports betting operators.

Ready to wage war to secure the right of New Yorkers to play mobile casino games, Sen. Addabbo has presented Senate bill SB 8412 to the Senate floor. If passed, the bill would legalize both online slots and table games in NY.

Under the terms of SB 8412, each of New York’s four retail casinos would receive the right to offer an online casino of their own. They would be allowed to offer a proprietary online casino platform or outsource their online casino access to up to two mobile operators (skins).

If the retail casino opted to go with the third-party option, the license fee would be $2.0 million per skin. If they choose to go with a proprietary platform, they would need to pay a license fee of $12.0 million. In both cases, the license fee would cover the operator’s first 10 years of business activity.

The bill also calls for a gross casino revenue split of 75%/25% with the 25% going to the state. This is a far cry from the 51% the state gets from gross sports betting revenue. As is the case with sports betting revenue, the state would designate its mobile casino revenue for education and responsible gambling programs.

Potential Online Casino Operators

While the state of New York currently features six mobile sports betting operators, that number will soon swell to nine as soon as the state finishes issuing sports betting licenses. Each and every one of these nine sports betting operators would be feasible candidates to serve as online casino operators.

With four retail casinos operating in-state, that could result in up to eight online/mobile casino skins. That opens the potential for almost all of the state’s mobile sports betting operators to get a chance to participate as mobile casinos. That list could include the likes of Caesars Sportsbook and Casino, BetMGM, Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers brand), Wynn Bet, and perhaps Borgata Casino (a non-New York sports betting operator).

It will be interesting to see where this bill goes. Considering the success of sports betting in New York, there is every reason to believe SB 8412 could become law later this year after some negotiating.