Governor Cuomo Opens Avenue to New York Sports Betting in 2021

Cuomo Comments on Sports Betting

New York State needs to find $15 billion due to the budget issues it will be facing with the pandemic ruining so much of the states’ revenue. On top of the fact that New York thrives off of tourism, it has always been a commercial city. With patrons unable to shop, go to work, and produce, there is no money flowing for the government to tax.

In comments made on Wednesday, December 16th, during a meeting about possible solutions for the budget, Cuomo directly mentioned both Marijuana and sports betting. He did indicate that taxes will need to go up, but these two services that are being legalized all over the United States could fill in giant holes in revenue.

It needs to be noted that Cuomo must be commenting on widened sports betting such as online wagering. New York does already have legal sports betting, but it is restricted to the northern part of the state where you can bet in casinos. Currently, both DraftKings and FanDuel have physical sportsbooks in the state.

However, something that could actually put a significant dent into this budget deficit is mobile sports betting. New York’s neighbors, New Jersey, just posted a betting handle of over $900 million, with $6.2 million made for the state in tax revenue for the month of November. This is with extremely lenient regulation and taxes. Another state that has just launched in Tennessee, after just one week of betting, the handle reached $27.4 million and made Tennessee over $500K in tax revenue.

This may not sound like a whole lot compared to the $15 billion that needs to be found, but New York is a massive state. New Jersey is benefitting massively from New York bettors traveling to legally bet in their state. There is proof that it will make money for New York. If you take a tax/regulatory heavy stance like Tennessee, then New York could be looking at $8 million of revenue on the conservative side in just its first month of betting. This would be a massive stream of cash flowing in to solve a piece of the puzzle that is the budget deficit.

Can Online Sports Betting Come in 2021 for New York?

It is very reasonable to assume with the Governor on board that the process for launching online sports betting in New York could be expedited. There are several sportsbooks ready to pounce, and DraftKings/FanDuel already operate in some capacity in the state. The State House and Senate have both shown great interest before the pandemic in launching online mobile betting, and now with the executive branch of the Empire State on board, it will only quicken the process.

Regulations, taxing rates, and such will have to be ironed out, but that does not have to take more than a few weeks. These sportsbooks would give an arm and a leg to launch in New York, so if the state needs them to hurry and pay a massive licensing fee, those sportsbooks will do so.

2021 could see the launch of online and mobile sports betting for New York, forever shifting the betting landscape for the East Coast and the United States.