It’s been a long time coming but the decision by the New York Gaming Commission to unanimously approve mobile sports betting in the state is big news. This decision to approve the sports betting regulations that were brought to the table clears a big hurdle that will allow online wagering in New York.
This Has Been a Long Time Coming
The reasons that New York has not had mobile betting are complicated and honestly not worth going over. Not because they aren’t important but because they never really made sense. At this point, anyone that has been paying attention to what is going on with legal sports betting in the United States since PASPA was struck down, will have noticed the noise that New Jersey has been able to make in the market. Over the past year, they have consistently challenged Nevada for top spot in terms of sports betting handle. In fact, they’ve done better than challenge, beating Nevada for top handle in a month on several occasions.
That success is in no small part thanks to New York, more specifically Manhattan. While New York has launched legal sports betting market of their own, they have been missing a key ingredient; mobile sports betting. As mentioned earlier, the reasons why are not important, the consequences are. Due to the fact that there was no mobile online betting, the only way to make a legal sports wager was to drive upstate to one of the brick-and-mortar sportsbooks located in casinos.
Or you could do what most people in Manhattan have chosen to do and that makes the short drive over across the bridge to New Jersey, make your mobile wager and be back home in time to watch the game. Depending on where in Manhattan you live, it’s possible to make that trip in less than 30 minutes. Now take into account the fact that over 80% of New Jersey´s wagers come via mobile and you see the impact of this decision by New York to finally allow mobile sports betting.
A Lot of Work Still to Be Done
The New York Gaming Commission will have to select a minimum of two mobile operators. They will also have to choose two platform providers as well. Some of the biggest names in the industry have already begun submitting their bids in anticipation of this ruling. It appears that the likes of FanDuel, Draft Kings, BetMGM among others will be joining forces to form a much bigger bid. The aforementioned names are already some of the biggest in the world on their own so the fact that they are even considering joining forces lets you know that they expect this new look New York market to be a big time money maker.
Players in New York and across the country that don’t yet have access to legalized sports betting via mobile can go to OddsTrader once this changes. OddsTrader currently offers betting odds comparison in Illinois, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, Iowa and West Virginia.
There are plenty of other big names that have submitted applications as of yesterday. What will most likely happen now is that the applicants would have to make informational introductory presentations in front of the New York Gaming Commission. The presentations are expected to take place after September 1st.
