With the eyes of the college basketball world on conference tournaments this week, culminating with Selection Sunday, you would think New York sports betting would be off and running now that the state has legalized mobile wagering.
Think again.
New York prohibits betting on college sports involving in-state teams.
So, this week, if you are a New Yorker with a legal mobile sports betting account with one of the eight operators that have launched since January, you can’t bet on two local schools in major postseason conference tournaments held in New York City.
The Big East Tournament is back as always at Madison Square Garden, starting Wednesday and concluding with the championship game Saturday. The tournament involves one New York team: St. John’s. So no betting on the Red Storm.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament starts Tuesday and runs through Saturday as well at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn. Bet away, but not on games involving Syracuse.
It also means you can wager on the first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games being held at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on opening weekend. As long as no New York team makes the field there. Those dates, times and matchups will be determined and announced Selection Sunday.
Now, if you want to wager on the Southeastern Conference or Big West tourneys on a New York app, that is perfectly legal.
Two-Month Anniversary
Tuesday, March 8 is the two-month anniversary of live mobile sports wagering in New York. The state reported a total handle of $350.3 million for Feb. 21-27, marking the seventh consecutive week that measure has been more than $350 million.
Overall mobile Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) came in at $25.34 million, marking the second week and third of the last four that the total GGR was more than $25 million.
Total handle for all providers since its historic start on Jan. 8 stands at $3.16 billion, with GGR at $204.69 million and taxes to the state at $104.39 million.
During that time span, the leader in total handle, and first to break the $1 billion mark, is FanDuel New York at $1.070 billion. Fan Duel had a GGR of $50.26 million and sent $25.63 million in taxes to Albany.
Following FanDuel in mobile handle so far are: Caesars Sportsbook New York ($943.9 million), DraftKings New York ($757.6 million), BetMGM New York ($232.5 million), PointsBet New York (just short of $82 million), BetRivers New York ($69.6 million) and WynnBet New York ($4.86 million).
Resorts World New York took its first bet last Thursday and BallyBet New York is expected to launch in April.
(Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify what college teams or games you can bet on in New York.)
