Study of Sports Betting in New York Will Be Delayed Until 2020

 Sports Betting in New YorkMuch of what you read in gambling news tend to focus on US sports betting. The decision to offer regulated sports betting lies on each states’ legislature. As a result, the sports betting industry in the US is slowly catching up to the demand of emerging gambling markets. New York is one of the states that has very limited sports betting operators. And in an effort to get to know the impact of sports betting in New York, the New York State Gambling Commission is tasked to hire an independent body to conduct a study on the matter.

Originally, the commission was supported to select a bidder to conduct the study on or before August 12. Then, the study will begin on September 1. But according to reports, the release of the findings won’t be until April 1, 2020. The problem with the new timeline, is that the study will be released on the same day that New York’s budget is due. This gives the state virtually no time at all to prepare and pass legislation to regulate a sports betting market locally. This means that any legislation on sports betting won’t be implemented until 2021.

Sports Betting in New York

This is concerning for certain state officials. They think this will cause the state to lose out on potential revenue. First off, the current sports betting setup in the state are with certain physical sportsbooks in casinos. All of which are located upstate. It may even be easier for locals to travel to New Jersey to place bets.

Second, online and mobile sports betting has been growing in both popularity and revenue. The convenience of using gambling software to place wagers regardless of where you are has drawn in a lot of attention. Bettors now prefer to place bets through sites and apps instead of driving to casinos. New Jersey, for instance, has brick and mortar sportsbooks earning a handle of $44.3 million for August 2019. But their online sportsbooks have a handle of $249.2 million for the same period.