online sports betting ny
Mandatory Credit: Seth Harrison via Imagn Content Services, LLC

If New York includes an online sports betting plan in its fiscal year 2022 budget it will likely be one floated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which will limit the number of sportsbook operators and potential skins, according to a report.

Tom Precious of the Buffalo News reported earlier today that a New York online sports betting plan would mirror one endorsed by Cuomo, which would limit operators to one or two sportsbooks through a request for proposal process.

Limited Operators And Skins In Cuomo’s Plan

Language in the proposed fiscal year 2022 executive budget noted the state would issue a request for proposals for a platform provider. Providers would only be eligible if they have a current partnership with at least one of the existing licensed commercial casinos in New York.

DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers and Bet365 all have partnerships with existing licensed commercial casinos.

Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow and Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., the chair of the NYS Senate Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee, both favored a more competitive model that would have seen numerous operators and numerous skins, more akin to how New Jersey runs its online sports betting plan.

According to Precious, Pretlow said the NY online sports betting plan would be run by two operators, have a minimum of four skins and feature a high tax rate.

Cuomo’s plan would more closely mirror plans in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Negotiations are still ongoing and nothing is set in stone until the budgetary revenue bill is introduced and approved.

The State Comes First

Yesterday in a press conference call with reporters, Cuomo again expressed his desire for the state to be the main benefactor of any online sports gambling revenues.

“We’ll contract directly with the mobile sports vendor….we’ll contract with them and we’ll make the money. We don’t need the casinos as a middleman,” he said during the conference.

Cuomo and New York Budget Director Robert Mujica both said the state is drafting an  online sports betting bill to honor the terms of the existing Oneida Nation compacts. The bill would not cut the nation or upstate counties out of potential online gambling revenue.

Covering regulatory developments in online gambling throughout this fine country.