Mobile Gambling Update for New York

In April of this year, former Governor Andrew Cuomo suddenly flipped his position and indicated he would sign mobile gambling legislation for the residents of New York. Note the title "former Governor." Due to multiple allegations of sexual impropriety, Cuomo was forced to resign. The reigns of the state have been passed to former Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul. who took over as Governor on August 25, 2021.

This matters to the state legislature that has been working to finalize the regulations to be set forth to control mobile gambling in the state. Interested parties will remember that Cuomo was adamant about giving one online gambling bookmaker the exclusive rights to oversee online/mobile gambling in the state. Cuomo also demanded that any new legislation be tied to the 2022 budget process.

Currently, questions abound about what position Governor Hochul will be taking on the matter at hand. The following is a commentary on the state of online/mobile gambling for New York moving forward.

Mobile Gambling Update for New York

By all indications, it looks like Governor Hochul is willing to support the exclusive rights option. At the same time, the door has not been closed on a multi-operator solution. That means the loss of Cuomo will likely not affect the timing of the start of mobile sports betting in the state. Here is what is known as of this date.

City officials have received bids from at least six of the top sports gambling operators in the U.S. Heading this list is DraftKings, Fanduel, Caesars International, BetMGM, BetRivers, and Twinspires. Interviews and presentations from prospective bookmakers are set to take place in early September.

Assuming all goes well, city officials have stated they would like to issue at least one operator license by December 6, 2021. Again, multiple licenses could be approved if the group of collective proposals would give Governor Hochul what she wants and expects in terms of gambling tax revenue for the state.

Assuming the December 6 deadline comes to fruition, there is a small chance New York residents will have access to at least one mobile sports betting option by the end of the year. With that said, this is New York. Very seldom do things simply fall into place as intended.

The more likely scenario is as follows. All licenses will be issued on time. The state legislature will put a bow on the rest of the relevant regulations just prior to that date. Assuming this all becomes reality, New York sports bettors should have access to an online/mobile sports betting option by the first week of January 2022. While that would eliminate wagering on NFL regular-season games, bettors would be able to immediately wager on the NBA, NCAA BB, the NHL, and the NFL playoffs. Betting on the 2022 Super Bowl in February seems a certainty.

Since this is obviously a fluid situation, interested parties will want to watch the news wires for updates on what happens during the licensing process.