Mobile Sports Wagering in New York Begins Jan. 8

Mobile sports wagering in New York will get underway Jan. 8 after state regulators gave the go-ahead for four of the nine approved operators to start the new form of legal wagering in the state.

Bets on pro sports contests and out-of-state collegiate games can be taken anytime after 9 a.m. Saturday, the state Gaming Commission announced Thursday. It said final "statutory and regulatory requirements" have been met so far by four of the approved operators: Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive.

The agency last fall OK'd nine operators to offer mobile sports wagering following approval of the enabling law by the governor and lawmakers last spring. It makes New York the largest legal mobile sports betting market in the nation, and, despite its high tax rate compared with other states, New York officials predict it will become a $1 billion market.

Sen. Joseph Addabbo, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Senate racing and wagering committee, called the commencement of the wagering "great news for New York in terms of revenue, new funding for education, addiction programs, and youth sports, as well as new jobs."

New York believes mobile sports betting tax revenues for the state will eventually total $500 million annually.

Last fall, state officials were hopeful, though not certain, that the betting might be operational before the Super Bowl in February; Addabbo praised the new Gov. Kathy Hochul administration for getting the program running before NFL playoffs begin.

Addabbo said Thursday he is pressing ahead with his legislation to permit the New York Racing Association and Finger Lakes Racetrack to enter into deals with the sports betting operators for direct wagering on Thoroughbred horse racing.

Addabbo introduced the bill on Nov. 19, and it was picked up in the Assembly on Dec. 13 by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Westchester Democrat and racing committee chairman.

The new law in New York does not permit direct wagering on horse racing, though it does allow a "shared wallet" system in which bettors can use money they have on deposit with one of the mobile sports platforms to wager on horse racing via, for instance, the NYRA Bets program. The shared wallet feature, however, is not yet available due to a technical issue related to credit card processing of such wagers, but NYRA officials are hopeful the matter will be resolved soon.

"Allowing horse racing content and wagering to coexist within the mobile sports betting marketplace would grow the sport in New York, deepen the industry's economic impact, and attract new fans,'' said NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna. He said the legislation, if approved, "would expand consumer choice" and provide "an enormous opportunity for horse racing to share in the benefits of mobile sports betting."

The new mobile sports betting only permits the operators to take fixed odds bets, so if the Addabbo and Pretlow bill were to become law bets on horse racing made via the mobile sports betting program would not be based on the pari-mutuel system.

The legislation also allows for mobile sports betting operators to enter into deals with "affiliates" to locate sports betting kiosks in places like OTB parlors, sports stadiums and arenas, racetracks, and the Aqueduct VLT casino.

Come Saturday, anyone 21 and older can place a mobile sports wager—in a variety of different forms of betting—on sports contests from anywhere within the borders of New York State.