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Mobile sports betting has had a tough time in New York. Attempts to include mobile sportsbooks in state law, until this year, had always failed. Continuous opposition to mobile sports betting by Gov. Andrew Cuomo was usually the culprit.
But this is New York, where toughness is respected, and often rewarded. State lawmakers who have persistently negotiated for mobile sports betting finally earned their props on April 7, 2021, when online sports betting made it into the fiscal year (FY) 2022 New York state budget.
The big reward came Monday, April 19, 2021, when Cuomo signed New York mobile sports betting into law as part of the state’s new budget.
Mobile Sports Betting And The New York Economy
New York officials project that adding mobile sportsbooks to the state’s economy will bring $500 million in new state revenue into New York by the third year of operation. That will make New York a top performer in the nation’s sports betting market going forward.
Cuomo — who had been opposed to legalizing mobile sportsbooks in New York until Jan. 2021 — had a rosier outlook when he signed the FY 2022 state budget on April 19.
At the budget signing, Cuomo said the $212 billion state spending plan will rebuild New York in a post-COVID world. Up to $100 million in new state revenue over this fiscal year is expected to come from mobile sports betting.
“There is nothing that is predetermined. New York will be what we make it to be. At one point in life, your destiny is in your own hands. Our destiny is in our own hands. It’s what we make it, and our goal — our ambition — is to make it better than it has been before,” said Cuomo.
Sen. Addabbo Still Hopeful For Super Bowl Launch
New York has until late December to license operators for mobile sportsbooks this fiscal year, but key New York sports betting negotiator and Sen. Joseph Addabbo is hopeful for an earlier launch.
The chairman of the New York Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee told NY Sports Day on April 9 that he would like New Yorkers to be betting on their phones by NFL kick-off on Sept. 9.
If that’s not possible, Addabbo wants mobile sportsbooks launched no later than the 2022 Super Bowl.
“That is key,” said Addabbo. “The Super Bowl is a major sporting event globally. That is where sports betting in general — certainly mobile sports betting — is relevant. So we don’t want to miss the Super Bowl.”
