The recently released budget for the fiscal year 2022 by the New York State has highlighted the government’s plan to legalize online wagering as a first-of-a-kind development in the fast-growing gambling industry. The honorable Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has given his nod to run a limited-operator model in the city centered around the New York Lottery. The $200 Billion fiscal budget is likely to support the city’s casino business in a thoroughly regulated framework.
According to the report, Cuomo is willing to manage the entire sports betting cluster in New York City wired through the New York Lottery for hassle-free working. The New York Lottery team shall issue the requests for potential proposals from only limited mobile betting operators that will be allowed further to provide licenses to four other sportsbook operating firms. The plan is likely to help the four upstate sports betting firms, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetRivers, and bet365. The gaming firms like the Yonkers Casino and Resorts World will be excluded from the bidding process. Cuomo assured that the region’s three gaming tribes would be included in the betting structure.
The newly proposed structure did not receive an applauding response from the lawmakers who highlighted its non-competitiveness and constitutional limitations. The online betting model will be a unique step as other cities, like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, allow many casinos to enjoy legal operation for better competition opportunities for the users. The Governor and the state’s legislative leaders conveyed that the state budget has been drafted; however, they refrained from publicly disclosing certain specific details about the industry.
Talking about the model, Cuomo stated that with the lottery structure, the state would get good revenues in its credit, unlike the states where casinos run their services and keep the profits with themselves. He added that he would not make casinos pool all the money. The distinct Lottery model will help him fetch funds for the development of the state. The state Sen. Joseph Addabbo conveyed that the state’s online sports betting cluster might change in 2022 if it fails to serve the purpose.
Currently, sports betting is legal in an in-person mode in the city in the four casinos mentioned above in the text. The state does not support any form of online gambling for casino users. Interestingly, by offering online sports betting, New York will become the most popular region for online betting fans as nearly 20% of sports betting sites in New Jersey are used by New York users.
Online betting is likely to constitute over 90% of the state’s total betting business, and this might reach billions of dollars in monthly gross in the future.
