US latest: New York inches closer to mobile sports betting as Georgia waits

Significant progress has been registered in New York yesterday (Tuesday) towards the introduction of mobile sports betting – as an agreement on the 2022 state budget includes legalising mobile sports wagering

By Buck Wargo – SiGMA US correspondent

As reported by SiGMA last month, New York is seeking mobile betting because it is losing out on tens of millions of dollars as residents are betting in neighbouring New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

On the other hand, problems put on hold progress the state of Georgia, as a political fight over voting rights has temporarily scuttled attempts to introduced wagering in the state. Georgia’s legislative session ended before it could pass a bill that would have put a ballot measure before voters to legalise online sports betting in November 2022. That means that the popular vote will now have to wait.

Following the latest development, New York is now the next big domino to fall in the US sports-betting scene.

The new law is expected to include up to two betting platforms and possibly four operators, encouraged to partner with tribal casinos, which currently offer sports betting in their upstate properties.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, striking down a federal ban on full-fledged sports betting outside of Nevada, sports betting attorney Daniel Wallach said it’s finally going to happen in New York.

After the latest developments this week, Wallach predicts that the first mobile bet in New York could take place in January, 2022.

“New York is going to be on the top sports betting markets in the country,” Wallach said. “It’s performance lags without a mobile product and adding a mobile component even if it’s four (operators) will be transformative for New York’s gaming revenue.”

Wallach said there will be “aggrieved stakeholders” of casinos and other entities left out of mobile sports betting based on the budget bill. That includes horse racetracks, sports stadiums, off track betting parlours, and video lottery terminal operators, he said.

Brendan Bussmann, the director of government affairs with Global Market Advisors, a consultant who tracks state legislative action across the country, said the proposal appears to be more favourable to what Governor Cuomo is seeking rather than to customers.

He insisted that if the tribes don’t think they’re being treated fairly, they could file a lawsuit.

“They might only have four operators while New Jersey has nearly 30 operators,” Bussmann said.

“It’s limiting to the customer and if you are someone in downstate New York, you will go across the river because you want the same brand you had in New Jersey. That’s going to limit the amount of revenue they generate. Wyoming might have more operators.”

In another development, Wyoming became the latest state to approve sports betting this week when Governor Mark Gordon signed a mobile wagering law, similar to Tennessee.

Betting in the least populous state in the US could start by September in time for the start of the football season.