REGULATORS GREENLIGHT NEW YORK MOBILE SPORTS BETTING LAUNCH FOR THIS SATURDAY

Nick Makowitz Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

REGULATORS GREENLIGHT NEW YORK MOBILE SPORTS BETTING LAUNCH FOR THIS SATURDAY

Game on in the Big Apple. On Thursday, The New York State Gaming Commission announced that four of the Empire State’s nine licensed sportsbook operators will be allowed to launch their respective sites and apps starting Saturday at 9 AM EST.

The four green-lit operators – FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and Rush Street Interactive – will each “determine when to accept wagers, based upon its business capabilities and readiness.” That will be this weekend, starting at 9AM on January 8th.

The five remaining operators are still working to satisfy all of the necessary regulatory requirements according to the NYSGC.

This does not mean that the five operators not launching on Saturday are behind schedule. Gary Pretlow, Assembly Gaming and Wagering Committee Chairman, actually believes the opposite due to the original timeline.

“This is good news. It’s definitely good timing. We said we wanted mobile sports betting to start before the Super Bowl. We’re ahead of schedule.”

The highly-anticipated launch has indeed arrived in time for the Super Bowl, as well as the entirety of the NFL playoffs leading up to it. Capitalizing on those highly-intriguing events will undoubtedly contribute to New York’s $1 billion in expected sports betting revenue next year.

While the state expects a large online sports betting market, it will also benefit from a 51% tax rate on gross revenues. All licensed operators in New York have agreed to pay the upper-echelon fee, one that will rank New York behind only Delaware’s retail program in effective tax rate.

State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. is one of many excited about what sports betting tax dollars can do for the state’s economy.

As Chairman of the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee, he proclaimed “mobile sports betting will generate additional revenue for the state including for education and it will create jobs.”

In addition to education and job creation, Addabbo Jr. noted there will be $6 million in annual funding for gambling addiction programs.

With the launch of mobile sports betting in New York also comes a nuance many east-coasters are familiar with, much to their chagrin. New Yorkers will not be able to place wagers on college sporting events taking place within the state or on any events involving New York college teams.

National sports betting leader and neighbor, New Jersey, has the same regulation in place. Further south, Virginia boasts the same in-state college sports betting regulations.

While New York college teams are off-limits, we expect New Yorkers to waste no time betting on the hometown-favorite Knicks, Yankees, Rangers, and many more.

The Empire State’s sports betting market will be a fun one to track. New Yorkers have never shied away from believing in their teams, and now, they have an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is.

Written by Nick Makowitz, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can read more about our author's expertise here.

Nick Makowitz

In his spare time, Nick likes digging into NFL and NCAAB betting data, going to breweries with friends, and trying out any and every Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh. More from Nick Makowitz