New York mobile sports betting to be regulated

Governor Andrew Cuomo has confirmed the New York State budget for the year 2022 will include mobile sports betting.

US.- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders have announced an agreement to regulate mobile sports betting in the state this year. 

It had seemed that regulation would not advance this year, but an agreement has been reached. The General Assembly must now vote to accept the budget.

Cuomo said: “Mobile sports betting will pass. It will generate $500m annually for youth sports education. The law allows the state to directly operate mobile sports betting.

“So the $500m will go to the state, rather than a lot of middlemen who operate mobile sports betting, which is what many other states have done”. 

In an official statement, the governor added: “The FY 2022 Enacted Budget authorizes mobile sports wagering. Once fully phased in, legalization will provide more than $500m in much-needed revenue for the State to help rebuild from Covid-19 and grow what could be the largest sports wagering market in the US into a profitable industry long-term.” 

Cuomo also warned that this measure is not intended to authorise “any new casinos”.

He said: “I am opposed to any casino authorization plan that is subject to politics. We have a Gaming Commission that makes the decision on the merits. There’s a lot of money involved in casinos.

“There’s a lot of lobbyists, there’s a lot of political contributions and I want to make sure that any decision that is made is made purely on the merits and I’ll have nothing to do with a casino plan that can be politicized.”