NY Sports Betting Bills Unlikely to Advance in 2018

Home » Poker News » NY Sports Betting Bills Unlikely to Advance in 2018

Thursday, June 21st, 2018 | Written by Stephen Smith

In the aftermath of the recent Murphy v. NCAA Supreme Court ruling, which invalidated the federal ban on sports betting, New York was expected to become a leading state in the race to legalize betting on sports. However, for a variety of political reasons, efforts to pass the necessary legislation through the state Assembly and Senate have faltered.

Furthermore, the legislative session ended on June 20, and it won’t be until 2019 that the matter can be taken up again. Commenting upon its recent stalling in the legislature, Democratic Senator Carl Heastie from the Bronx pointed at “significant issues” having been brought to the Assembly’s attention regarding sports bets being made at casinos and via mobile devices. In the meantime, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan) opposes legislation on moral grounds, stating:

“I think it will undermine the integrity of the games. I also believe that it will lead to greater gambling addiction. I don’t think that we should be chasing whatever happens across in New Jersey and have that be the rationale for New York making a bad decision about exposing more people to addictive gambling.”

About the Proposed Bills

The main bills intended to make sports betting legal in the Empire State are S 7900, introduced in the Senate by John Bonacic on March 7, and A 11144, put forward by Gary Pretlow in the Assembly on June 8. They are seen as companion pieces of legislation. Although the text of these bills has occasionally differed as new amendments and alterations have been introduced in one chamber, backers in the other house have been quick to reconcile the differences between them.

These bills would set up a licensing regime for organizations looking to offer sports betting services within state borders. They include commercial casinos, racetracks, and off-track betting offices. The language also includes provisions for mobile betting.

Revenues would be subject to a tax of 8.5%. Additionally, operators would have to fork over 0.2% of all wagers to professional sports leagues as a royalty. These sports governing authorities would have the power to designate certain outlets as official sources of game information, which would be used by bookies in resolving all disputes about the results of sporting matches.

Neither bill came up for a vote during the 2018 legislative session.

Wrangling and Disagreement

Because of the many stakeholders involved in New York gambling, it was probably inevitable that consensus would be hard to reach. The gaming industry as a whole wants low taxes and the ability to offer wagering on as many platforms as possible. This is especially important for New York’s nine racinos, which are worried about declining racing profits and increased competition from commercial casinos.

However, tribal casino managers would probably like to restrict commercial sports betting as much as possible so that they can enjoy an effective monopoly. Because their gambling activities are covered by federal law and gaming compacts with New York, rather than being subject to normal state laws, they feel that they can proceed with sports betting right away without waiting for the legislature to act.

In fact, the Oneida Tribe – owners of the Turning Stone, Point Place and Yellow Brick Road upstate casinos – sent a letter to Governor Cuomo arguing that the plans championed by Senator Bonacic and Assemblyman Pretlow go against the New York Constitution. The reasoning is that the mobile betting portions of the bills violate the constitutional restriction of casino gaming to the seven authorized casino locations in the state. Furthermore, the Oneida say, the use of mobile betting apps within the tribe’s territory breaks the exclusivity rights granted by the gaming compact signed by the tribe and the state.

Another wrinkle is introduced by the professional sports leagues who lobbied for the royalty fee included in the legislation. They contend that opening up sports events to betting introduces game integrity risks, like the bribing of officials and the fixing of matches, which they must subsequently expend significant resources to combat. However, opponents of such fees counter that any additional burdens placed on the organizers of sports games are the responsibilities of those entities, and should not be borne by the sportsbooks.

Is NY Sports Betting Already Legal?

There are those who believe that wagering on sports in New York is already legal. In 2013, a gambling expansion bill was passed that permitted the state’s four commercial casinos to offer sports betting to their customers. The relevant clauses of this law have been in abeyance for several years because federal law prohibited casinos from implementing such schemes, but the recent court decision in Washington means that this prohibition has been removed. Nevertheless, the New York Gaming Commission (NYGC) still has to establish a regulatory framework for this type of activity to proceed, and there’s no telling how long this will take.

There’s another form of betting on sports that’s definitely legal, and this is daily fantasy sports. After having been ordered in March 2017 to cease operations in the state, the leading DFS companies were welcomed back in August after the governor signed a bill to make the industry legal. This might serve as a temporary way for gamblers to get their sports betting fix until traditional wagers on the performance of single teams and players is allowed.

Looking Forward

With so many actors contending for a piece of the pie, it should come as no surprise that 2018 proved an unfruitful year for sports betting in New York. A similarly contentious environment has been seen at the other end of the United States in California’s many attempts over the years to legalize online poker, all of which broke down due to a lack of agreement among interested parties. We must wait at least until 2019 before the New York Legislature can address sports betting again, but the same divisive forces will still be in play then, so it could be several years before wagering on sports is eventually legalized statewide.