New York State Assembly Includes Mobile Sports Betting in Budget
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Mobile sports betting has been the hot topic in the New York State legislature this entire legislative season. However, in the past month, it seemed that the bill and attempts to legalize had fallen by the wayside due to the scandals and acquisitions against Governor Cuomo, a major backer in mobile sports betting. A lot of experts downgraded the chances for legal mobile sports betting in the Empire State.
However, a lot of this pessimism has shifted due to the news out of the New York State General Assembly. Congress has decided to include mobile sports betting in its annual budget. This will likely be the first of three proposals given out. The New York State legislative bodies, as well as Governor Cuomo, will need to amend the proposals to come up with one cohesive one.
There seems to be a big shift in optimism about mobile sports betting staying on the final budget. While each proposal is different, it seems that all three sectors of the Senate, General Assembly, and Governor Cuomo want to include some form of mobile sports betting.
What Exactly Was Proposed?
The budget includes a bill that is very similar to the previous bill brought up in the Assembly, A 1257. This bill would allow for a total of 14 mobile sportsbooks to enter the New York market. It does so by allowing two online sportsbook licenses per casino in the state. There are a total of seven casinos, four commercial and three tribal, in Upstate New York.
Where things begin to get unique for New York, compared to other states, is the licensing fee model. The Assembly wants each operator to pay a massive upfront fee of $12 million. Then, there would not be a recurring annual fee, like you would see in other states. A large reason for this is the fact that New York wants money now, as the pandemic has left the state short on its revenue targets.
The proposed budget also includes a tax of 8.5% for brick-and-mortar sportsbooks and 12.5% for online and mobile sportsbooks. This is actually not one of the higher tax rates in the country and helps offset the $12 million in fees to enter. However, it would seem that New York may reserve the right to raise these rates in the future.
Governor Cuomo & Senate Propsals
It seems that the Senate is set to offer a very similar proposal as the Assembly. This has become a front on which the legislative bodies are somewhat united on. The difference will come with Governor Cuomo’s proposal. He has made clear that he would like a monopoly model to maximize revenue for the state.
April 1st is the date that these three proposals will need to be reconciled. One thing to keep in mind is these budgets are massive, and sports betting is not likely the most important or biggest issue on these budgets. However, there is hope that the Senate and General Assembly get Cuomo to budge on this portion of the budget and mobile sports betting comes to New York in 2021.
