Daniel Borjas | SportsBettingInNewYork.com https://www.sportsbettinginnewyork.com Mon, 17 May 2021 19:49:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7 https://www.sportsbettinginnewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/favicon-1.png Daniel Borjas | SportsBettingInNewYork.com https://www.sportsbettinginnewyork.com 32 32 Governor Cuomo And State Lawmakers Battle Over Mobile Sports Betting https://www.sportsbettinginnewyork.com/gov-lawmakers-battle-over-mobile-sports-betting.html https://www.sportsbettinginnewyork.com/gov-lawmakers-battle-over-mobile-sports-betting.html#respond Wed, 20 Mar 2019 19:47:00 +0000 https://www.sportsbettinginnewyork.com/?p=462 Governor Cuomo is firmly against mobile sports betting expansion. State senator Addabbo says that a constitutional amendment is not needed. New York law firms agree that no constitutional amendment is not needed. NEW YORK – Governor Andrew Cuomo has stated on Monday that he is not in favor of mobile sports betting. Cuomo has doubled ... Read more

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  • Governor Cuomo is firmly against mobile sports betting expansion.
  • State senator Addabbo says that a constitutional amendment is not needed.
  • New York law firms agree that no constitutional amendment is not needed.

NEW YORK – Governor Andrew Cuomo has stated on Monday that he is not in favor of mobile sports betting.

Cuomo has doubled down on his position against mobile sports betting in a roundtable with WAMC. Cuomo doesn’t believe that the potential fiscal impact for sports betting is worth it for New York.

“They [New Jersey] raised something like $13 million dollars [on sports betting] – $13 million dollars is a rounding error in our state. So I don’t even think the economic benefit is there,” said Cuomo.

This fact is echoed by the fact that Governor Cuomo has completely left sports betting out of his proposed financial budget.

This doesn’t mean that Governor Cuomo is completely against sports betting. He is in favor of the sportsbooks that are going to open upstate. Cuomo said that the new sportsbooks will help a part of the state where there isn’t too much economic development. He also stated that it will create high-paying jobs for residents in upstate New York.

The Amendment Debate

Governor Cuomo has made his position very clear on how he feels about any expansion of any gambling. He has said that he and his budget director believe that a constitutional amendment is needed to authorize online mobile betting. This would take three years and require a statewide referendum to accomplish.

Lawmakers are not standing for that position. Senator Joseph Addabbo has constantly rebuked the governor’s position about needing a constitutional amendment to authorize mobile sports betting. Now he has other opinions backing his idea.

New York Law Firms Weigh In

A good number of law firms including Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has stated that there does not need to be a constitutional amendment to authorize mobile sports betting. There are two main reasons why Gibson Dunn believes a constitutional amendment is unnecessary.

The first reason is that mobile sports wagering fits under the “casino gambling” umbrella. Casino gambling can be legalized and regulated by state lawmakers thanks to the constitution.

The second reason is because of where online sports betting occurs. Online and mobile sports betting happens within the confines of a server. If that server is physically located within a location that has legal sportsbooks, then sports bets are happening at a casino facility.

This gives lawmakers like Addabbo the ammo they need to combat the governor’s opinion on the issue.

“It’s a hurdle we can easily jump over. We have a number of independent law firms that have written briefs on how it would be constitutional. If we take a broad-but-correct interpretation of our current constitution, we can do sports betting in the four casinos with a mobile component,” said Addabbo.

The opinions from the law firms will help Addabbo and other lawmakers push for expanding sports betting in New York into the mobile space. Addabbo now has no reason to back down on this issue and he will push for mobile sports betting in New York.

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NEW YORK – If mobile sports wagering must get a constitutional amendment before becoming a law, the process to do that could delay online sports betting by three years in New York.

Sports betting is now legal in New York and it should launch later this year. One of the key factors about how wagering on sports is going to work in the state is that commercial casinos are the only facilities able to open sportsbooks.

This is a huge problem because to driving to these locations from New York city takes two to three hours. As a result, most New Yorkers would rather go to a casino in New Jersey that is just 15 miles away.

Lawmakers are worried that New York City residents going to New Jersey - or another state - for sports betting will cause a massive loss in state revenue.

“People get into a rhythm in lifestyle and get used to it,” said State Senator Joseph Addabbo. “I’m hoping that they change their lifestyle and utilize our apps and facilities. We need to capture their money here before people get too comfortable jumping to Jersey.”

That loss of revenue would be very beneficial to help alleviate New York’s financial troubles. According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, state tax revenue is currently $2.3 billion under projections of the current fiscal year.

Even though that is the case, Cuomo said that a constitutional amendment is necessary for New York to include mobile wagering. The process to make a constitutional amendment is three years. The Governor also said that sports wagering from the casinos upstate should be enough to help close the financial budget gap that the state is facing.

Jeff Gural, who owns a casino in both New York and New Jersey saidthe way New Jersey handles online wagering should be fine for New York.

“But my own opinion, based on the legal opinions that I’ve ready from smart people, is that it’s where the server is that’s considered where the bet is being made, so it shouldn’t need a constitutional amendment,” said Gural.

But until Cuomo agrees with that, the State of New York will need to go through the process of a constitutional amendment to make mobile and sports betting in New York a reality. Lawmakers are worried even if an amendment were to go through, residents in New York city will continue to go to New Jersey or elsewhere because they are used to it. They also do not want potential revenue for New York to go to another state.

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