New York Mobile Sports Betting Rules Given Preliminary Approval by NYSGC

• New York State Gaming Commission Approves Sports Betting Rules Monday
• Now 60-Day Public Comment Period, Then Commission Board’s Final Okay
• Oral Presentations from Mobile Market Bidders Begins September 1

NY State Gaming Commission Approves Sports Betting Rules Monday

On Monday, yet another small step was taken towards launching legal mobile sports betting in the state of New York when the NY State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) gave its preliminary approval to the regulations that will guide mobile sports betting in the state.

There were over sixty pages of rules that outlined various aspects of how New York’s mobile gambling interests will begin to operate, including a variety of factors from server locations and licensing to reporting and internal controls.

These proposed rules were initially announced on July 9, the same day the state’s request for application (RFA) finally went live, and, as NYSGC Executive Director Rob Williams told the press, they make it clear to the public how sports betting would be run in New York.

As part of this RFA development, it was necessary to create a draft proposed regulations set to provide insight into the anticipated regulatory environment governing mobile sports wagering.

But Monday only marked the beginning of the official approval process.

Now 60-Day Public Comment Period, Then Commission Board’s Final Okay

Now that these rules have received the NYSGC’s initial green light, they face a two-month period of public scrutiny by the New Yorkers who will be affected by this new market.

During that time, anyone can comment on the rules and make suggestions, all of which will be recorded and given to the commission board who will then adjust the regulations accordingly and decide whether to give them their final approval.

Also being decided by the commission is where each particular server that will handle all wagering traffic will be located since due to a 2013 amendment in the state’s constitution, all New York betting servers must be located at one of the state’s four upstate commercial casinos.

Meanwhile, bidders to be platform providers and operators in the Empire State will begin making their cases public next month.

Oral Presentations from Mobile Market Bidders Begins September 1

Right now, there are six bidders vying for a chance to become players in New York’s potentially lucrative mobile sports betting market, with big names like FanDuel, Caesars Sportsbook, WynnBET, PointsBet, and Kambi joining the fray.

Starting on September 1, these bidders will begin the process of making oral presentations to the NYSGC in order to make clear their business plans for sports betting, including the number of skins in the market and the tax rate they would pay the state of New York, with each bidder having a different idea of how that would work.

For example, according to the redacted applications that were released on Friday, some bidders like FanDuel are proposing a 50% tax rate with limited skins while others like Kambi would be willing to pay 51% with more skins in play.

Regardless of which specifics make the final cut, what’s expected from this somewhat controversial new revenue-maker is about $500 million annually in direct sports betting tax revenues for New York, a figure that has been called “optimistic” by some industry leaders.