Weekly News – 04/20/2021

Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert

6 minute read

THIS WEEK IN LEGAL SPORTS BETTING — NEW YORK SPORTS BETTING MAKES IT OFFICIAL!

April 20th, 2021 Weekly Report

Legal sports betting news has been especially busy this week, with spring bringing some big moves. From New York sports betting to potential California sports betting news, there is movement on this front from coast to coast. So, that means it is especially important to stay up to date on all of your sports betting news. Keep reading for the latest developments in legal sports betting news!

If you want to find our more on some major topics not covered in this article you can check out the rest of VegasInsider with our exclusive bet365 bonus code, BetMGM bonus code or PointsBet promo code for example!

CONTENTS

• New York is Going Live
• Washington Current Status?
• Is California Next?
• Final Thoughts

STATES LOOKING TO MAKE MOVES: FINALLY, NEW YORK SPORTS BETTING

Even though many will not be surprised, it is finally official that New York mobile sports betting is coming to the Empire state! The fiscal budget for the year 2022 has been signed into law by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The signing is the culmination of years of work and months of negotiations to bring New York sports betting to the state.

Unfortunately, the model that has been decided upon by New York Governor Cuomo is the monopoly model. This model required concessions from legislative leaders who were hoping for a more direct NY sports betting model. Now, the state will require extra time to write regulations as well as to go through the licensing process with sportsbook operators. So, this means that neighboring state New Jersey will continue to get the boon from New York sports bettors for the time being.

New York state Senator Joe Addabbo Jr., a long proponent of New York sports betting, has stated that he hopes the Super Bowl will end up serving as an ultimate benchmark measurement for the legal mobile sports betting market in the state. However, there is still the chance that the measure will face legal challenges from tribal nations or other outside interests.

Under the governor’s model, there will be a request for proposals for sports betting licenses. This period will start by July 1st and will run for a total of thirty days. Then, the state will have 150 days to rank these proposals, however a decision could possibly be made even sooner than that.

The monopoly model that New York Governor Cuomo has decided on is similar to the model used for New Hampshire sports betting. This model gave both a retail as well as mobile monopoly to sports betting powerhouse DraftKings Sportsbook through its RFP.

Many sports betting companies are expected to join the bidding to operate sports betting in the state of New York. However, as there are not yet any requirements listed to become a bidder, we do not know exactly who will apply.

Right now, we know that for this New York sports betting model, there will at least be two platform providers that will be picked. And, there will be a minimum of four skins. However, it is not sure yet whether the skins will have to use the platform provider’s technology.

The platform providers will be required to pay $25 million each for a license that will last ten years. And, these platform providers will have to share more than 50% of the sports betting revenue total.

Plus, extra points in the process will be rewarded to any of these platform providers that partner with any one of New York state’s three tribal gaming partners. The Oneida Nation has questioned whether mobile betting would be able to work in their exclusive gaming zone, which probably contributed to this stipulation.

WHERE DOES WASHINGTON SPORTS BETTING STAND?

Finally, the state of Washington has managed to reach its first sports betting compact with a gaming tribal partner. This agreement is between the state, the Washington State Gambling Commission, and the Tulalip Tribes of Washington. The Tulalip Tribes operate two gaming facilities in the state of Washington.

And, it is expected that they will be the first to offer legal sports betting in the state. The Tulalip Resort Casino as well as the Quil Ceda Creek Casino are near the Tulalip Reservation, which is around 40 minutes north of Seattle, Washington.

The state hopes to have a legal Washington sports betting launch before the regular NFL season starts. Though, a lot of work remains to be done before that can happen. ESHB 2638, which legalized Washington sports betting at tribal casinos, was signed into law on March 25th, 2020 by Washington Governor Jay Inslee.

Then, it was up to the state to negotiate new tribal compacts in regards to legal WA sports betting. The agreement took almost a year to negotiate.

The compact will now move to the state Senate and the House of Representatives, who will review it. The vote by the gambling commission on the new compact is expected to take place on June 10th. Then, the final signatures will be needed on the compact from the tribal chair as well as the governor. It will then go to the Department of Interior for consideration and finally to the Federal Register for publication.

There could be more tribal compacts coming in the next few months. There are currently 23 other tribes that operate 28 tribal casinos in the state. These tribes could renegotiate their compacts to include sports betting as well. Many have expressed interest in doing so.

In the two decades of legal gaming gambling in the state, the tribal gaming industry has been able to create almost 40,000 jobs in the state. Plus, it has generated $700 million in state and local taxes.

COULD CALIFORNIA SPORTS BETTING BE NEXT?

Many are hoping now that we are seeing New York sports betting that California sports betting may come next. However, it looks like the state will not be seeing legal sports betting any time soon. The state has seen strong opposition from tribes when it comes to legal sports betting in California.

However, voters in California may still be able to vote on legalizing sports betting in the state this year. So, even though legislative efforts to legalize California mobile sports betting did not move forward last year, there is still hope.

The tribes have been able to gather enough signatures to get a sports betting initiative on the ballot this year. This is according to James Siva, the California Nations Indian Gaming Association Chair.

If voters in California decide to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom, they should also have the chance to vote to legalize sports betting. However, if that does not happen, the initiative to legalize sports betting in California would not make it to a vote until midterm elections in the year 2022.

The sports betting initiative is called the California Sports Wagering Regulation and Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act. This initiative would legalize California sports betting at tribal casinos as well as horse racetracks that are already in existence.

At first, California sports betting in the state would be retail-only. It would remain retail only until the tribes were ready to enact California online sports betting. However, the tribes would need time to find sports betting operator partners. But, it is not realistic to think that sports betting would be able to continue and be successful in the state without including California online sports betting.

There are more than 100 tribes in the state of California. This number is quite larger than the amount of potential partners for online sports betting in the state. Also, a mobile sports betting initiative in California would most likely be unable to pass without tribal support. Right now, the tribes have exclusive gaming rights and do not want to give that up, rightfully so.

CONCLUSION

So, you can see that there is movement on the legal sports betting front on both sides of the coast. We now have legal New York sports betting coming to the state, finally! Washington sports betting has also seen some moves. But, sadly, California sports betting still seems highly unlikely.

However, all a sports betting initiative needs to move forward is the right timing and the right support. So, these kinds of initiatives can gain traction in a hurry. Come back each week to see what has been happening in the legal sports betting world!

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise.

Chris Altman

Chris Altman is a sports betting writer and content expert with almost a decade of experience. He's covered everything, but his current focus is on reviewing sportsbooks and online casinos and keeping tabs on sports betting legislation. Chris has been with VegasInsider since 2019 and has freelanced in the sports betting content industry for years. More from Chris Altman