When Is Sports Betting Coming To New York?

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New York is one of several states that passed sports betting laws in the past few years. However, residents of the state might be surprised to find that they still can’t access fantasy sports apps or place bets at the major teams’ stadiums. That’s because the current law only allows sports betting to happen in casinos, all of which are upstate. Everyone else will have to wait until next year when sports betting will be fully adopted in the online form.

The current status of New York gambling is that it must happen in a casino. New York sports betting sites are coming, but there’s a bit of paperwork that must be done before the launch. The state’s gaming commission has to select at least two platforms to start app-based betting in 2022, with the decision due by December 6. After that, we should see sports betting hit the state in a more widespread fashion in January or February, but definitely in time for the Super Bowl.

Before the big decision, the state did give licenses to these nine outlets: FanDuel, DraftKings, Bally Bet, BetMGM, Caesars, WynnBET, Empire Resorts, PointsBet and BetRivers. These can run operations on-site and will also get the eventual right to bring their apps to New York residents. BetMGM announced a huge deal with Madison Square Garden, giving them the sole rights to run betting kiosks and booths during games played in the stadium.

Madison Square Garden

New York was slower than other states to enact sports betting measures–many have already been running gambling operations throughout the 2021 NFL season. A big problem for the Empire State was that a large number of lawmakers don’t want gambling to be so prevalent in their state. Sports betting is being adopted largely due efforts of former Governor Cuomo, who etched out a deal to include betting investment in the 2022 New York budget.

Sports betting will be the only type of online gambling coming to New York. Those who oppose gambling have made it so card games and slots will not be seen outside of casinos for the foreseeable future. The one exception is poker, mostly because online poker already happens through international websites that skirt the rules of gambling. Global Poker runs games that hand out prizes as a form of sweepstakes. Snice this is technically not gambling, New Yorkers can play on Global Poker’s site and get money.

Perhaps the most promising market for the sports betting industry will be New York City. Until now, New Yorkers had to travel upstate or to Atlantic City to hit up casinos and place bets. As anyone who lives in NYC can tell you, leaving the city isn’t something that happens often. While travel will still be needed for casino games, sports betting will be available via phone to all of NYC’s millions of residents that are 18 and older. That’s a lot of people who wouldn’t be gambling otherwise, now contributing to the state’s revenue and betting operators’ profits.

Those looking to get in on the action should start by shopping around for a betting app. Many of the upcoming online sportsbook apps offer welcome promos for free plays or credit deposited into their account. You can pre-register and check out the potential welcome bonuses now. These bonuses aren’t available at the actual casinos, giving online players an advantage that you won’t find elsewhere.

New York sports betting will be here before you know it. It is technically already here, just only happening in casinos. But save onto some of your holiday bonus, because online sports betting will be at your fingertips in 2022.