New York to assess sports betting bill

An Assembly Member wants to create a task force to analyse bill S7900, which would legalise sports betting in New York.

US.- Bill S7900 could soon see sports betting regulated in the State of New York, but Assembly Member Clyde Vanel wants to look further into it. That’s why he has introduced bill A10322 in order to create a task force to study online sports betting in the area while they wait for the Supreme Court ruling on the matter.

“We are going to meet this week with the Chairman of the Assembly Racing Racing and Wagering Committee [J. Gary Pretlow] and see how we’re going to be positioned in light of the Supreme Court ruling that may happen soon,” Vanel told SportsHandle, adding: “We’re going to be looking at the Senate bill that the Chairman has marked up and see whether or not he’s going to enter it.”

One of Vanel’s top concerns is how a sports betting bill turns into a law is who controls (or sells) the data. That’s why he wants to study a section in S7900 that would grant sports leagues a property right on sportsbook data. “We are very concerned about that. It’s one of the major issues that we have to address,” he said.

“The effect of the intellectual property provision giving exclusive ownership by the leagues, and state that the wagering community must licence from these leagues to create a property right,” Vanel explained. “These assets will be worth whatever the leagues ask for, and we are very concerned about that. We have some ideas on how to adjust that but we are very concerned that the way the bill is written, if league X refuses to give information to the wagering community, then the whole industry stops. So, that’s one of the major issues that we have to address.”