Betting will come to NY but in limited form.
New York gambling regulators from the state Gaming Commission have approved of permitted sports gambling options at four upstate casino locations. The following upstate casinos are authorized to offer domestic sports betting: del Lago Resort Casino in the Finger Lakes, Resorts World Catskills in Monticello, Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier, and Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady. These casinos have yet to receive their sports gambling licenses from the state but will after the completed construction of their 6,000 sq ft sportsbook lounges likely ready by August 1st, in time for football season.
The del Lago Casino will be operating their sports gambling lounge in partnership with DraftKings where there will be 20 betting kiosks, TVs, a restaurant, and much more. Resorts World Catskills personnel plan on providing 35 TVs around a bar along with betting kiosks which could potentially accommodate more than 100 bettors.
The state and its governor have endorsed the allowance of sports betting at upstate casinos earlier in 2019 but needed to finalize details. New York’s federally recognized native tribes have expressed interest in offering sports gambling as well, and the state may permit sports wagering offers for up to 7 tribal-run casinos. At this time, the New York Gaming Commission established rules on sports wagering prohibiting any bets placed on New York-based collegiate sports and events.
New York is hoping to expand this domestic sports gambling option via introduced legislation which would allow mobile sports wagering across the state and betting within sports arenas. However, the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has expressed concern for mobile sports wagering stating the change would require a constitutional amendment. In addition, the introduced legislation has yet to receive actionable results in either statehouse.
However, Attorney Daniel Wallach who is considered an expert on sports betting law testified to the New York Legislator in May that a state constitutional amendment would not be needed since the state has tweaked its gambling laws before with the addition of remote horse wagering without changing its constitution. Also, the introduced legislation by sponsor Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr states his bill would circumvent a state constitutional amendment by requiring mobile sports wagering to be routed through existing casino computer network servers. However, it seems Governor Andrew Cuomo is not budging on his stance.
In the meantime, NY bettors can use offshore 18+ casinos with built-in sportsbooks to wager on sports while construction is underway.