State of New York Issues Online Sports Betting Licenses

It was a very complicated and drawn-out process. For all of the prospective U.S. online sports betting operators involved in the process, the prize at the end would be the right to offer sports betting access in the state of New York. It’s a big prize as analysts believe New York could end up being the highest-grossing state in the U.S. in terms of sports betting handle and revenue. After reviewing proposals from several different top bookmaking organizations, the New York State Gaming Commission has finally made a decision.

Two platforms were chosen to accept online sports wagers from New York sports bettors. The first group of licenses will be issued through platform provider Kambi Group. The Kambi Group platform will combine the efforts of the following U.S. online sports betting operators: Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers), Caesars Sportsbook, Wynn Interactive, PointsBet, and Resorts World.

Also impressing the Gaming Commission’s analysts was another group led by Fanduel, the top online bookmaker in the U.S. The Fanduel New York sports betting platform will combine the forces of DraftKings, BetMGM, and Bally Bet.

It’s a unique approach to licensing, something that has not been done in any other state. In addition to the Kambi Group and Fanduel, other proposals were received from bet365, Score Bet, Fox BET, and a second proposal from the Kambi Group, which included sports betting access to operators Barstool Sportsbook and Fanatics. The latter four proposals were rejected because they didn’t score high enough based on the technical analysis done by the Gaming Commission.

What This Means for the State of New York

In anticipation of New York sports bettors generating more than $15 billion a year in sports betting handle for operators, this is a dynamic deal for the state of New York. First, the state will collect $200 million in licensing fees from the combined 9 operators. Once things get rolling, operators will be turning over 51% of their gross revenue to the state. Analysts expect that amount to be close to $500 million a year going forward.

Each of the 9 operators will be licensed to take online bets from sports bettors for the next 10 years. What this means for all participating operators was made clear by Tom Reeg, CEO of Caesars Entertainment when he stated:

“We’ve been looking forward to the opportunity to bring mobile sports betting to New York. With more than 19 million people, New York will be the biggest mobile sports betting market in the country, and we feel we are uniquely positioned to bring an incredible product to that market.”

As for when New York-based sports bettors will be able to start making sports bets online, State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens said that he is hopeful the state’s new operators will have everything ready to go by the Super Bowl in February of next year. Since all of these operators are already successfully operating in other states, it is very likely they will be able to hit the Super Bowl deadline.