Rovell: New York Is Running Out of Time for Mobile Sports Betting in 2020

Joe Addabbo knows he’s running out of time.

The New York state senator, who has been the top supporter of bringing mobile sports betting to New York, says there’s less than a month left for the powers that be to get their act together.

Interested in seeing the status of sports betting legalization in your state? Check out our updated tracker here.

Since Gov. Andrew Cuomo left mobile sports betting off the initial budget proposal in January, Addabbo told The Action Network that he has had conversations with the administration about the topic.

Addabbo said he expects the senate to include mobile sports betting to help make up for a $6 billion shortfall. He’s hoping the house does the same thing when it reveals its plans on March 18.

The two legislative bodies then get together to propose a final budget on April 1.

”As I’ve said before, if we don’t get it into the state budget, we’re going to have to pass a separate sports betting bill and to do that, we have to get it before the governor who can sign or veto it,” he said.

A recent report from Eilers & Krejcik said that New York lost $6.2 million in taxes in 2019 off a projected $837 million in bets that have gone to New Jersey.

At 19.4 million people, New York is the fourth-most populous state in the US and the biggest state — in terms of population — with legalized sports betting. However, it is only legal to gamble on sports in New York at four Upstate casinos.

Pennsylvania, which is right behind New York in terms of population, has both retail and mobile betting and did $1.9 billion in handle in 2019 and $348 million in January.