Legislation has been enacted in the State of New York allowing new mobile sports betting licensees to enter into agreements with racetracks in the state to allow live sports bettors to place bets on sports betting sites. Thoroughbred horse race.
He said in an interview the legislation by Senator Joseph Addabbo, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Senate racing, gaming and betting committees, will give bets to bettors. a more “seamless” way to bet on Thoroughbred races.
The state’s new mobile sports betting program, which could be rolled out by the Super Bowl in February, does not allow live betting on horse racing. However, the state does allow a “shared wallet” system in which bettors can mine the funds they have deposited into one of the mobile sportsbook operators to bet on horse racing. through the NYRA Bets program.
The new law will add horse racing to other professional forms and some college sports competitions where New York mobile sports bettors can bet live. However, the new sportsbook program only allows them to place bets on fixed odds and not bets based on the pari-mutuel betting system.
The Addabbo bill would also allow mobile sportsbook operators to enter into agreements with “affiliates”—identified as off-track bookmakers, stadiums and sports arenas, other racetracks and casinos Aqueduct Computerized Lottery Station — to locate mobile sports self-service betting kiosks to place bets on various professional and amateur competitions. Sports betting operators will own the kiosks.
Any of these arrangements would have to be approved by the New York State Gaming Commission, and mobile sports operators cannot offer direct bets on horse races without an agreement from New York Racing Association and Finger Lake.
Addabbo said the legislation reflects initial plans he put in place several years before the final version is approved this spring as part of the 2021 state budget. the operator for the new program.
“We’re looking to maximize our potential,” Addabbo said of the rationale for his new bill. He said “there is a need for a combination of horse racing … and mobile sports betting” as a way to incentivize today’s mobile sports bettors—Those who cross state borders to bet. illegal bets or bets through a bookie or offshore account — to try New York’s upcoming mobile show.
Addabbo said the bill is currently limited to thoroughbred race betting, but he would consider expanding it to exploit road race betting. He said he discussed the bill with Representative Gary Pretlow, a Westchester County Democrat and his committee counterpart in Congress; Addabbo said Pretlow told him last Friday – the day the Senate bill was introduced – that he was considering the idea.
The bill would allow live betting on races at tracks run by the NYRA and at the Finger Lakes Raceway.
The NYRA has welcomed the concept of a “universal wallet” for the new mobile sports betting program but said the new Addabbo law will provide more options for bettors who may want to place fixed-rate bets on online casinos. race.
“Allowing horseracing and betting content to coexist in the mobile sports betting market will grow the sport in New York, increase the economic impact of the industry and attract new fans. It will expand consumer choice by placing premium equestrian content on the same mobile shelf as other professional sports, will generate additional gaming revenue of $1 billion or more up for the State of New York,” said NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna.
McKenna said the Addabbo bill “provides a tremendous opportunity for horse racing to share the benefits of mobile sports betting.”
