Five Online Sportsbooks Await Sports Betting Approval in New York

Three days after the launch of mobile sports betting in New York, five online bookmakers authorized to operate in the state have not received the OK to begin accepting wagers.

In November, the New York State Gaming Commission approved nine online bookmakers to operate mobile sports betting across the state. Four were given the green light to begin last Saturday. They are Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetRivers.

Five others have not been allowed to accept bets. These five are BallyBet, BetMGM, WynnBet, PointsBet and Genting’s Resorts World.

In a news release last week, the commission said the remaining five are working to meet “statutory and regulatory requirements” and will be approved on “a rolling basis” after those requirements are met.

The commission did not indicate what the unmet requirements are or when approval is expected.

“We do not have a date certain when that will occur,” commission spokesman Brad Maione told Gambling.com in an email on Tuesday.

In a statement emailed to Gambling.com, BetMGM New York said on Tuesday that the company is “working closely with the New York State Gaming Commission to get the BetMGM app live as soon as possible.”

Mobile Wagering Records Huge Numbers in New York

The first weekend of mobile sports betting saw a large number of wagers being made throughout New York, the nation’s fourth most-populous state. Only California, Texas and Florida have more residents, but sports betting is illegal in those states. CA is currently working on putting betting legalization. If that goes through, sports betting in California may go live in 2023/24.

The opening weekend of mobile betting in New York came during a three-day stretch of key football games, making that period attractive to online bookmakers.

On Saturday and Sunday, the final full weekend of NFL games wrapped up, including some games with playoff implications.

On Monday, the No. 3- ranked Georgia Bulldogs upended the Alabama Crimson Tide, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, to capture the major collegiate title.

After launching Saturday morning, the four approved online operators accepted a combined 17.2 million transactions during the first two days of weekend betting, according to GeoComply, a Canada-based geolocation compliance and fraud-security firm.

Early Start to Mobile Betting Important to Bookmakers

Industry leaders say getting an early jump is important in building a base of online sports betting customers.

Matt Kalish, co-founder of DraftKings New York, recently touted the advantages to being one of the first out of the gate in the Empire State.

“We want to lead in every market that we enter,” he said last week on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” morning show. “That starts with entering first. In New York, we’ll be one of the first operators to go, and then from there, competing effectively and gaining a strong market share position.”

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens, recently said he is looking forward to the other five operators meeting state requirements so they can make their apps available “in the near future.”

New York City Area Casinos Under Consideration

With mobile sports wagering underway, some New York legislators are pushing for three fully licensed casinos to be opened in the New York City region, according to the New York Post.

Right now, the closest full casino to New York City is the Resorts World Catskills Casino, about 100 miles north of the country’s largest metropolitan area, home to more than eight million people.

In the New York City area, two gambling halls only are allowed to offer slot-style video lottery terminal games. These are Genting’s Resorts World at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens and MGM Resorts’ Empire City, a harness raceway in Yonkers north of the Bronx.

Addabbo, who chairs the state Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, said he envisions MGM and Resorts World being awarded licenses to convert those properties into full Las Vegas-style casinos with table games.

In 2013, voters statewide approved seven commercial casino licenses. Four state-regulated casinos have been opened in upstate New York. Three were slated to be opened later at downstate sites. Beginning in 2019, the upstate properties were allowed to offer on-site sports betting.

In addition to these resorts, seven tribal casinos are in operation in the state.