Governor Andrew Cuomo Signs Bill Allowing Online Sports Betting in New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed budget legislation for the 2022 fiscal year that includes a plan to allow online sports betting in the state. 

The new budget, to which Cuomo and legislators agreed earlier this month, makes New York the latest state to legalize mobile sports betting. Cuomo signed the bill into law on Monday. 

Even though the state is still months away from actually taking legal sports bets, New York State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. told Elite Sports New York that he expects the first bets to be taken on Feb. 13, 2022—the same day as the Super Bowl. 

"You don’t want to miss out on another Super Bowl," Addabbo told ESNY. "I think this would be a good benchmark for New York to see how we’re doing,” 

When it comes to college sports, bettors will be allowed to place wagers on collegiate games and tournaments that are held in New York so long as no New York college is involved. 

The state will select two online platform providers for the program, with bidding expected to run throughout 2021, according to ESNY. New York will have 150 days after receiving applications to to select platforms. The state is expected to request applications by July 1 at the latest. 

The platform providers will pay a one-time fee of $25 million to host sports betting and will be housed in a New York casino and will pay $5 annually to house its mobile betting servers. The maximum tax rate set for the providers is 13%.

New York is the latest state to progress towards online sports betting after the Supreme Court's 2018 decision to repeal the nationwide sports betting ban. Although New York opened physical casinos in 2019, it's just now entering the online sports betting world.

Other states that have legalized online sports betting include Nevada, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Washington, D.C. has also allowed the practice.