New York will allow online sports betting for gamblers in the empire state after a plan was included in the final revenue bill of the state budget. So what now? When will residents be able to legally place sports bets from their mobile devices?
Our best educated guess? The process won’t likely begin for several months, so it will be a stretch to have everything up and running by football season. However, we do know more about how the state will offer betting to its residents and what the future could possibly look like with details from the state budget’s revenue bill.
The New York legislature agreed to a $212 billion state budget that includes an online sports betting plan which closely resembles a plan promoted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo throughout negotiations.
The state will issue a request for applications by at least July 1, and interested parties will enter into a competitive bidding process. The New York Gaming Commission will take into account the potential platform providers’ gross revenue estimates, the tax rate it’s willing to pay the state, past experience in the field, a timeline of its potential operations and its willingness to enter into revenue sharing agreements with the state’s Native American tribes or nations.
The minimum tax rate in the state has been set for platform providers at 13%. However, this will likely be driven much higher in the bidding process, as Cuomo said in previous reports he expects nearly a 50% to 55% tax rate.
The state will have 150 days after receiving applications to select two platform providers. The selected platform providers will each pay the state a one-time fee of $25 million to host sports betting. Platform provider servers to host sports betting programs will be housed in a New York casino. Providers will pay casinos $5 million annually to house their mobile betting servers.
A minimum of four skins, or “mobile sports wagering operators” will partner with platform providers and operate in the state. The gaming commission may award additional licenses in the future if its determined to be in the best interest of the state. Additional platform providers will pay the same tax rate as the original two platform providers.
Additional items:
- Bettors will be able to place wagers on collegiate tournaments taking place in New York and sporting events in those tournaments, so long as no New York college is involved in the game. Previous language of the bill had prohibited wagers on all in-state collegiate games or those involving New York colleges.
- $6 million will be dedicated to “problem gaming addiction treatment and resources.”
- Youth sport programs will receive a boost as a new “statewide youth sports activities and education grant program for underserved youth” will be created and funded annually at $5 million.
- A proposal to allow for sports betting kiosks at stadiums, arenas, tracks and certain OTBs was not included in the bill.
- A request for information will be conducted to determine interest in the unawarded licenses for three downstate casinos.
