Tribes In New York, like the Oneida Indian Nation, are partnering with Caesars Entertainment to offer sports betting.
The state has legalized sports gambling offers since 2013 via voter referendum – a whole five years before the Supreme Court’s removal of PASPA. This allowance was a preemptive move by New York in hopes of a future without PASPA’s federal prohibitive ban. Since PASPA’s removal as a US gambling law in May of 2018, numerous states have jumped on the “legalize sports gambling” bandwagon.
Despite sports betting’s approval in 2013, the state has drafted a legal sports gambling bill containing expanded provisions and will tack it onto this year’s budget for review. This new bill will affect commercial venues but not tribal casinos. With the current legislation in place, sports gambling can only be offered by four approved commercial venues, whereas this newly introduced bill will provide a provision to expand sports gambling offers throughout the state.
The Oneida Indian Nation in NY says they do not need to worry about the passing of new expanded sports gambling legislation as their tribal gaming compact with the state of New York allows their offering of sports gambling. Rather, the Oneida Nation needs their partnered plans to be approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) and NYS Gaming Regulators, as these two governing bodies oversee tribal casinos federally and, in the state, – respectively.
The approval to launch physical sportsbooks in NY seems evident regardless. The Oneida Indian Nation, through their partnership with Caesars, will operate sportsbooks inside their three NY local casinos – the Turning Stone Resort Casino, Point Place Casino, and the Yellow Brick Road Casino. The tribe is hopeful for smooth sailing as they expect to launch their operations in 2019.
The partnership will allow the Oneida Indian Nation to offer sports gambling to Upstate New York through a branded entertainment service called the “The Lounge with Caesars Sports”.
With the release of new regulations by the New York State Gaming Commission, the Oneida Indian Nation would adopt these regulations immediately before launching their services. Currently, regulations do not allow for online or mobile sports betting, nor on racetracks or within racinos. The act of wagering on a NY collegiate team or events occurring within New York are also prohibited.