Sports betting kiosks at Madison Square Garden? If one senator gets his way New York sports betting will receive an interesting new wrinkle during this year’s legislative session.
Today, Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., one of the major proponents of sports betting in the New York legislature, introduced a bill that would allow for the installation of sports betting kiosks in New York stadiums, arenas, racetracks, OTB, and several other facilities throughout the state.
It would also allow online sports betting operators to offer fixed-odds horse racing.
Sports Betting Kiosks and Fixed-Odds Horse Racing
If bill S2343 is approved, online sports betting operators may enter into an agreement with an “affiliate,” which could be an arena or stadium, to install sports betting kiosks. Customers would be able to place bets and deposit or withdraw funds directly at the kiosks.
This would allows sports betting kiosks at Madison Square Garden, Yankees Stadium, Citi Field, or any other such facility as long as an agreement is reached with an operator.
In addition to the allowance of sports betting kiosks, Addabbo’s bill would allow online sports betting operators in the state to accept bets on fixed-odds horse racing.
This would be contingent on the online sports betting operator entering “into a fixed odds sports wagering agreement with an entity that has the authority to provide the content of such horse racing event.”
Fixed-odds horse racing differs from pari-mutuel wagering. Fixed-odds horse racing means if a wager is submitted on a horse at 50:1, those odds will lock until the race begins. Pari-mutuel wagering allows the odds to change right up until the race begins.
According to the bill, all fixed-odds sports bets must first be approved by the New York State Gaming Commission before going into effect.
Addabbo Calling for More Online Operators
Earlier in the week, Addabbo Jr. introduced a bill to expand New York online sports betting operators to 14 operators by Jan. 31, 2024, and no less than 15 operators by Jan. 31, 2025.
New York online sports betting currently only allows nine operators.
As part of the trade-off to allow for an expansion of online sports betting operators, Addabbo’s bill, S1962, would call for a reduction of the 51% online sports betting tax rate concurrent with the number of expanded operators.
Ten to 12 operators would see an online sports betting tax rate of 50%; 13 to 14 operators a 35% tax rate; and 15 or more operators would see a tax rate of 25%.
