According to new reporting from ‘Play New York,’ the Empire State Is close to launching online sports betting.
Some sources who are involved in the process are saying that online sports betting in the state could be up and running this year, so in the next three weeks. DraftKings (DKNG) and Penn National Gaming (PENN), sportsbooks that are both publicly traded, will benefit greatly when the state launches online sports betting.
New York Democratic Assemblyman Gary Pretlow talked about the new developments on Thursday. Pretlow said, ‘he’s been in communication with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Heastie has made a commitment to add an amendment about online sports betting to a bill that will be before the New York House next week.
The bill is a revenue bill, and the revenue raised from online sports betting will be a much-needed benefit for the state. New York, like the rest of the country, continues to battle against COVID-19, which has brought some of the highest numbers of cases and deaths since the pandemic started to surface last March. According to the new reporting, Governor Andrew Cuomo has expressed his support for online sports betting. He’s looking to capture revenue in the event that the current pending stimulus bill offers less money than anticipated.
Every governor in the country is dealing with scrambling for new sources of revenue due to budget shortfalls. This is blamed on new forced shutdowns of non-essential businesses across the country. Some of the newly released details of the added amendment would include an upfront $12 million dollar licensing fee for a sports betting license, one of the costliest in the country. There would also be a 12% tax assessed to all online sports betting revenue. There are other rules and regulations that are attached to the amended bill. Most sports betting experts concur that New York is one of four states that could really sway the sports betting pendulum for DraftKings and Penn Stock, and other sportsbooks that have a presence in New York and other nearby states.
California, Michigan & Florida Could Impact Sportsbooks Too
The other three states that could have a sizeable impact on online sports betting are Michigan, Florida, and California. Michigan legalized online sports betting in December of 2019. There is no movement towards online sports betting in the other two states.
Sports Betting advocates in New York are very hopeful that everything will be squared away long before March Madness of 2021. New York legalized and launched sports betting in July of 2019. Due to some wording on the original sports betting bill, online sports betting has not been made available. Everyone involved in the amended bill is hopeful that the oversight that initially occurred will be settled, and all the escaped revenue can now be captured.
Governor Cuomo and Speaker Heastie have been working on correcting the sports betting loophole that the original bill created since July of 2020. The amendment that the House will address next week will not legalize online sports betting immediately. However, the process will be in a forward trajectory, and online sports betting would be available sooner than later. The process would be set in motion, and lawmakers believe that it could be up and running before January 1, 2021.
Senator Joseph Addabbo Very Hopeful About Online Sports Betting
Democratic New York Senator Joe Addabbo has been a very vocal advocate of sports betting since the US Supreme Court overturned a national ban on sports betting in 2018. Senator Addabbo also weighed in on the new developments with online sports betting. Addabbo is very certain that New Yorkers would be able to place online bets in time for the Super Bowl that will be held on Sunday, February 7, 2021, in Tampa, Florida. Addabbo said,
“It takes time to set up the regulations correctly, the equipment, the programming, getting everything all set up. You hope that if you do it now, maybe by the time the Super Bowl or March Madness comes, you’re ready.”
Addabbo wanted to throw caution to the wind, saying
“things can change quickly, but it’s looking good, all things considered.”
