Residents of New York state can officially mark their calendars. The Gaming Commission has officially named the date upon which the mobile sports gambling floodgates can open.
After the New York legislature passed landmark gambling legislation in April of 2021 and now-former Gov. Andrew Cuomo subsequently signed it into law, we all asked the question in unison:
When will you actually be able to bet on sports in New York state from your mobile device?
Well, courtesy of the New York State Gaming Commission, we now know the date on which the floodgates will be officially, legally permitted to open. And if the date seems startlingly soon, that’s because it is:
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022.
Boom.
“With more than 20 million residents, New York is the largest state to launch online sports betting since PASPA [the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act] was overturned, so this is a massive opportunity for all stakeholders within the ecosystem and will open up new possibilities for further innovations in betting,” NealeDeeley, Sportradar’s Managing Director, US Betting, told Boardroom.
Of course, there’s fine print and caveats abound here, starting with the four licensed operators that have satisfied all statutory and regulator requirements to open for business within this newly announced timeline. Those sportsbooks are:
- Caesars
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- Rush Street Interactive (via BetRivers and SugarHouse)
The remaining operators granted licenses by the state of New York — Bally Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, Resorts World, and WynnBET — will now await the Gaming Commission’s official announcement that they have likewise satisfied all necessary prerequisites.
They will be approved “on a rolling basis when requirements are met,” according to an official statement from regulators.
Another caveat? New York requires that all its approved operators administer their action through servers that live in approved locations within state lines. With that in mind, don’t assume that your Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers, or SugarHouse account will necessarily be 100% up and running at 9 a.m. on Jan. 8.
“New York is the media capital of the world. We’ve seen the rapid convergence of media and betting across the country, and this development is going to take the real-time fan experience to a whole new level,” Deeley said.
As the Wall Street Journal has previously noted, sports betting is expected to generate nearly $500 million in tax revenue per year for the state of New York. The tax rate is officially set at 51%, the highest rate in the nation among states with multiple licensed operators.
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