Five days into the new year and 10 days until the start of the NFL Playoffs, one of the biggest proponents of New York sports betting apps is ready for it to go live.
Soon.
“We’re getting close,” said state Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, in a phone call to NewYorkBets.com Wednesday morning.
Addabbo is a Democrat who from the 15th District, which represents Glendale, Howard Beach, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and and parts of Ridgewood, South Ozone Park, Woodside and The Rockaways.
What Needs to Happen for NY Sports Betting Apps?
So what needs to be done to make mobile betting a reality in the Empire State?
First, the installation of mobile servers established at one of the four retail upstate casinos then an official launch date.
The four commercial upstate casinos are Rivers Casino in Schenectady, Del Lago Casino in Waterloo, Resorts World Catskills in Monticello and Tioga Downs Casino in Nichols.
Here are the Empire State’s providers and operators: Draft Kings NY, BetMGM NY, Bally Bet, FanDuel NY, Rush Street Interactive (parent company of BetRivers), Caesars, WynnBET NY, Resorts World and PointsBet.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no pre-registration of any of the approved nine operators has commenced. In an email to NewYorkBets.com on Tuesday, one mobile sports betting platform responded: “Unfortunately, nothing concrete to share on NY yet.”
Still, many of the operators have been taking to social media with their version of coming attractions.
“This is not something where you open a laptop and immediate access is given,” Addabbo said on the installation of mobile servers. “The servers are rather large and you have to either create or renovate a physical site or space for them to be installed.
”However, I do believe we are closer to that happening sooner than later and I have to give a lot of credit to the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC). Amidst the current situation with COVID-19 and the rather quick changing over to a new Governor’s administration, we are actually slightly ahead of schedule. They have done a tremendous job.”
Super Bowl or Bust
Addabbo repeatedly has said he would like to see mobile sports betting live and operational just in time for the Super Bowl, which will be held Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Addabbo also proposes one single date for launch of all the nine platforms, but the NYSGC will have to make that determination.
“Obviously, we would like for it to happen before the Super Bowl,” Addabbo said, “and we would have to go through some kind of testing/launch period where we can work out glitches, technical issues, etc. for such a large population all trying to get on at once. We will do that to make sure it goes off without any major hitches or problems.”
Once mobile sports wagering is officially launched and operational, Addabbo would like to see expansion in other areas.
Senate Bill S7536, which is with the Rules Committee, deals with wagers on certain horse racing events and authorizes agreements between a mobile sports wagering operator and an affiliate.
What does this mean? It means Addabbo would like to see the nine sports betting operators take horse racing wagers on their individual mobile applications.
A similar bill, A8538, is in the state Assembly.
Addabbo Credits Gov. Hochul
“Governor Kathy Hochul has been absolutely a breath of fresh air with more openness and professionalism on gaming and non-gaming issues since she took office,” Addabbo said. “At least, we can have a dialogue on all of these things we are considering on the gaming front, whether it be on expansion of wagering, jobs in the gaming sector, funding for gambling addiction programs, etc.”
Hochul, who took office in August after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's resignation, delivered her first state-of-the state address in Albany on Wednesday afternoon. She did not mention the upcoming launch of mobile sports betting in her 34-minute speech.
“We have to see what the Governor will be introducing in her executive budget sometime in mid-January and then we can go forward with the bills proposed and have initial budgetary negotiations. It’s a starting point.”
Addabbo said he also wants to bring iGaming to the state.
