New York set to legalise mobile betting following budget agreement
The governor, together with state senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and assembly speaker Carl Heastie, announced their agreement on the budget yesterday (6 April).
Under the budget legislation, the state will issue a request for applications and must select at least two platform providers, who will work with a total of at least four operators or skins.
Cuomo’s office says that once it is fully phased in, legalisation of the vertical will provide more than $500m (£361.7m/€420.8m) in revenue for the state, with the possibility of becoming the largest sports wagering market in the US.
With the current largest market, neighbouring New Jersey, bringing in $46.2m in February 2021 and a record $82.6m the month before, this suggests the state of New York will receive at least half of mobile betting revenue if it expects to take in more than $500m.
The governor’s office said that once fully phased in, the programme will provide $5m annually to youth sports and $6m to combat problem gambling, double the resources currently available.
The remainder of the new revenue will be dedicated to education, it said.