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New York’s final mobile sports betting rules took effect Wednesday, putting a sportsbook app launch closer to reality.
But that launch date, if known, hasn’t been made public.
A spokesman at the New York State Gaming Commission told WKBW’s Jeff Russo that the launch date “depends on the licensee getting everything lined up,” according to a Nov. 8 tweet by Russo. “Licensee” refers to each of nine mobile sports betting operators licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission on that date.
It’s a somewhat vague response, considering there have been delays without state-prescribed timelines. The state bid process to license operators took five months, with additional time taken to adopt final state rules. The final rules became effective Wednesday after they were published in the official New York State Register.
No sportsbook apps were allowed to launch in New York until the final rules were published.
Mobile operators are apparently working now to place and test mobile betting servers that will handle wagers from four commercial casinos upstate.
Launch Likely By, Or Possibly Before, 2022 Super Bowl
Getting mobile servers in place, tested, and operational at the four upstate casinos was on New York Senate Gaming Committee Chair Joe Addabbo’s mind before the NYSGC awarded the long-awaited mobile sports betting licenses earlier this month.
Addabbo said then that any mobile betting server glitches would negatively impact a potential $1 billion New York mobile betting market.
“You can pick all the providers and operators you want, but if you don’t have servers that accept the mobile bet and put them in place in the licensed casinos, and work out the contracts there and the programming of these servers, then everything else is meaningless,” Addabbo told Gaming Today. “I keep stressing to the (NYSGC) that I appreciate them being on time, but to be mindful that the servers are equally important as the gaming providers and operators.”
The Senator also told Gaming Today he expects mobile betting servers in New York to be online by the 2022 Super Bowl.
