New Yorkers can officially place sports bets online or on their mobile phones! On Saturday, January 8, the first online sportsbooks went live in the Empire State: DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, and BetRivers. Five more are expected to follow in the weeks ahead: PointsBet, Resorts World Bet, WynnBET, BetMGM, and Bally Bet.
Now that New York online sports betting is live, new and experienced bettors alike have many questions. Among them: Can New Yorkers bet on college sports?
Here’s what you need to know about college sports betting in the Empire State.
Is College Sports Betting Allowed In New York?
Yes, but with some limitations:
- New York sportsbooks are not allowed to offer lines on games or events involving in-state collegiate teams.
- This restriction extends to futures markets. New York-based college teams are not on championship oddsboards at sportsbooks in the state, for example.
- College player props are not available for New York bettors.
- New York operators are also not allowed to take bets on games taking place in the state, even if a contest does not involve a New York college athletic program.
In general, New York state law allows for sports bets to be placed on college games and events. However, gambling on any game that includes a New York school is prohibited. This means schools like Syracuse, St. John’s, Army, Cornell, and other New York colleges and universities are off-limits in the state’s betting apps. This rule applies even if those teams are played out-of-state. If you find Syracuse playing at Duke, for instance, you won’t be able to bet on the game.
Fortunately, this still leaves a wide swath of college games and teams to bet on. And for bettors, there’s nothing to worry about in terms of tracking the available games. Sportsbook apps won’t list any game for which they aren’t allowed to take bets. So you’ll never run the risk of betting on a prohibited game or market. It simply won’t be available to you.
What About Prop Bets?
Sportsbooks in New York are not allowed to offer player prop bets for college games. You won’t be able to wager, for example, ‘over’ or ‘under’ how many points a player will score or which player will score the first touchdown.
Team-based props are available. For the CFP Championship Game featuring Georgia vs. Alabama, numerous props are offered in the state. Caesars Sportsbook has alternate lines and totals, first team to score, and each to win by a certain margin of victory on its Georgia-Alabama wagering menu.
Futures Bets On College Teams
Futures betting involves wagering on a team’s season-long outcome: to win a championship or to win ‘over’ or ‘under’ a certain number of games, for example.
New York bettors will not be able to place futures bets on in-state college teams. You won’t find Syracuse basketball on the ACC or NCAA Championship oddsboard. Likewise, there will be no 2022 season win total for Army football when those markets are posted.
Futures bets on any college program not based in New York are fair game.
Precedent In Other Markets
States such as New Jersey and Illinois have similar stipulations surrounding college sports betting. Typically, legislators note the rules are in place to keep college sporting events free of wrongdoing, the concern being college athletes are more susceptible than professionals to corruption.
Whether or not that reasoning is sound, it results in certain restrictions when it comes to betting on college teams.
New Jersey has been a model for other online sports betting markets around the country, including New York. In the November elections, New Jersey voters rejected a proposal to allow betting on in-state college teams, but there’s always hope of loosening these laws. If one prominent sports betting state reverses course on some of its college restrictions, others may follow that lead.
College Games Played In New York
Here’s a scenario for you: What if two non-New York schools are playing within New York’s borders? Can you bet on that game, considering no in-state schools are involved?
The answer is no, and again the precedent has been set by New Jersey.
The Army-Navy game on December 7, 2021, was played in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Some bettors in the state were surprised when they saw no lines offered on the game. Because it was played in New Jersey, sportsbooks wouldn’t offer lines on it.
This means New Yorkers will not be able to wager on the first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games in Buffalo this March.
College Sports Betting In Pennsylvania
Bordering Pennsylvania’s sports betting law does not prohibit wagering on the state’s college teams like the Pitt Panthers or Penn State Nittany Lions. Player prop bets, though, are not allowed in the Keystone State.
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