NY Online Casinos: Obvious Yet Elusive
If New York is going to legalize online casinos in 2025, it's going to take a monumental effort. Does the Empire State have it in it?
The Bulletin Board
THE LEDE: Does New York’s online casino bill have any shot at passing in 2025?
MIDWEEK ROUNDUP: Robinhood reverses course on sports contracts; FL sends C&Ds; MLB umpire fired; A ton of legislative updates.
NEWS: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott comes out in support of sports betting
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Super Bowl betting estimates and data.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Brandolini’s Law.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE - Sporttrade was borne out of the belief that the golden age of sports betting has yet to come. Combining proprietary technology, thoughtful design, and capital markets expertise, our platform endeavors to modernize sports betting for a more equitable, responsible, and accessible future.
Sporttrade is now live in their fifth state; Virginia
The Lede: Sizing Up New York’s Online Casino Bill
New York is taking another bite at the “Big Apple,” AKA online casino legalization. State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. is once again leading the charge, having introduced a new online casino bill that is almost identical to the bill he introduced in 2024.
The notable change in the 2025 bill is it addresses sweepstakes, the hottest hot-button issue in the industry.
Addabbo recently took aim at sweepstakes casinos, posting on his website:
“One of my primary objectives as Gaming chair is ensuring New Yorkers are protected from gambling operations that have the potential of becoming more problematic without proper legislative action, such as unregulated sweepstakes casino operators.”
“Many sweepstakes' operators are located offshore, making enforcement limited or impossible, and our most vulnerable populations, youth and elderly, are most often targeted, which is why I want to act to address this existing loophole.”
“The use of money to play a game and win more money is simple gambling and should be safely regulated.”
And from the bill's “qualifying entities” section:
“A mobile sports wagering platform provider, inclusive of the sports wagering operators the platform utilizes, selected by the commission to conduct mobile sports wagering pursuant to subdivision seven of section thirteen hundred sixty-seven-a of this chapter and section fifteen hundred three of this article. An unlicensed entity offering games or contests that require a license or temporary permit issued by the commission under article thirteen or fourteen of this chapter within the previous three years of the effective date of this article shall be ineligible to receive an interactive gaming license.”
And per Light & Wonder’s Howard Glaser on LinkedIn, the New York State Gaming Commission recently said:
"There are operators conducting business inside our State that are running afoul of New York's penal restrictions on unlawful gambling. Staff have made several referrals to law enforcement and is assisting in case development."
Moving past the sweepstakes bit, Addabbo’s bill, S 2614, checks off a lot of the boxes that would make it passable:
Licenses are limited but not exclusionary. Applicants must be an existing New York casino, a racino, an Indian tribe with a gaming compact, or a current mobile sports betting operator. Licensees are limited to a single consumer-facing brand.
The financial burdens are high but not untenable. There is a $10 million licensing fee for customer-facing brands, a 30.5% tax rate, and limited promotional deductions in Year One.
The bill builds a coalition by authorizing online lottery sales and has robust, responsible, and problem-gambling funding ($11 million annually).
However, the roadblocks are considerable:
The ongoing downstate casino licensing process
A Governor that has shown little interest in online casino legalization
Overcoming the adverse climate caused by sports betting’s rapid spread
The bill has several policy proposals that seek to lessen union opposition:
Live dealer studios must be streamed from in-state studios
Creates an annual $25 million fund for casino employee training
The big question in New York will be its budget. Still, even if the state is desperate for revenue, It’s difficult to envision a scenario where online casinos are legalized before the downstate licenses are awarded, which isn’t expected until the end of 2025.
Midweek Roundup: Robinhood Reverses Course; FL Sends C&Ds; MLB Umpire Fired; A Ton of Legislative Updates
Robinhood pulls Super Bowl contracts: 24 hours after Kalshi and Robinhood announced a partnership, Robinhood has ceased offering the market at the request of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). “We are heeding their directive to cease offering these contracts despite the fact that the CFTC has not deemed Kalshi's football championship contracts illegal,” said Lucas Moskowitz, Robinhood's general counsel.
AGA statement on prediction markets: For those that think prediction markets foray into sports markets is baked in the cake, I give you this statement from the AGA — expect more of my thoughts on this in an upcoming feature column:
“The American Gaming Association is concerned with current efforts by certain trading platforms and digital exchanges to launch national sports event contracts that appear to circumvent state regulatory frameworks. Legal, regulated gaming in the U.S. – including sports betting – has worked with state and tribal regulators to develop regulated markets that protect consumers, promote responsibility, and support states and tribal communities in the form of tax revenues.
“The proceedings at the CFTC prompted by current efforts raise important questions, and the AGA further urges these companies to cease offering sports event contracts during the CFTC’s review period. Failure to sustain and uphold state regulatory frameworks on sports wagering poses potential consumer risks and jeopardizes state revenues dedicated towards critical priorities, such as public education, infrastructure projects, and responsible gaming programs and problem gambling services.”
Mississippi’s online sports betting bill passes House: In an 89-11 vote, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed HB 1302, which would legalize mobile sports betting statewide. The bill faces considerable opposition in the Senate, as Daniel Wallach noted on LinkedIn, “If you recall, the same scenario happened last year, with the OSB bill clearing the House but stalling in the Senate.”
Florida sends cease-and-desist letters to offshore gambling sites: Ahead of the Super Bowl, the Florida Gaming Control Commission has sent cease-and-desist letters to three offshore sportsbooks: BetUs, Bovada, and MyBookie. “The only online sportsbook operating lawfully in Florida is the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Hard Rock Bet,” a press release reads. “Anyone in Florida betting on the Big Game needs to know this. Bettor beware.”
MLB umpire fired for violating sports betting policies: After a year-long investigation, MLB has fired umpire Pat Hoberg. According to CNN, Hoberg shared “his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation.” In his The Closing Line Substack, Dustin Gouker called the Hoberg investigation “even worse optically” than the NBA betting scandal investigation. “Even if nothing untoward showed up in the actual wagering. It all creates a bit of a mess optically as the industry faces increasing calls for re-regulation, reining in of what bets should be allowed, etc.”
Maryland bill targets sweepstakes sites: A new bill has been introduced in Maryland that would prohibit online sweepstakes casinos. As Daniel Wallach noted on LinkedIn, SB 860 “proposes the license denial and/or license revocation of any person or entity that supports or promotes the operation of online sweepstakes games.” A companion bill was also filed in the House.
Connecticut bill would prohibit sweepstakes, lottery couriers, and more: The Connecticut General Law Committee introduced a bill, SB 1235, to ban sweepstakes (h/t Daniel Wallach again). The bill also prohibits lottery courier services, wagers on Connecticut intercollegiate teams except for tournaments, boxing, and MMA, and restricts certain types of advertising.
Hawaii Senate Committee advances sports betting bill: Like their colleagues in the House, the Hawaii Senate Economic Development and Tourism advanced a mobile betting bill (SB 1569). Per Daniel Wallach (again), the bill was supported by DraftKings, BetMGM, the Sports Betting Alliance, and local trade groups. It was opposed by Boyd Gaming (as noted yesterday, Boyd runs a Hawaii to Las Vegas business), the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, and the City of Honolulu.
Georgia’s annual sports betting push has begun: New legislation, SR 131, introduced by a quartet of Georgia Senators (Brandon Beach, Billy Hickman, Lee Anderson, and Carden Summers), seeks to legalize casino gambling and sports betting in the state. The legislation requires changing the state constitution via a voter referendum in 2026. It would also have to pass the House and Senate by a 2/3 majority vote. SR 131 would authorize a minimum of eight casino licenses. This marks the seventh consecutive year Georgia has tried to expand gambling.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE - Underdog: the most innovative company in sports gaming.
At Underdog we use our own tech stack to create the industry’s most popular games, designing products specifically for the American sports fan.
Join us as we build the future of sports gaming.
Visit: https://underdogfantasy.com/careers
News: Texas Gov. Supports Gambling Expansions
Things are getting interesting in Texas.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and most of the State Republican Party are opposed to gambling expansions, but supporters just picked up a key ally, as Gov. Greg Abbot is supportive of mobile sports betting.
“In an interview with Scott Braddock and Jeremy Wallace on the Texas Take Podcast, Abbott said he has no problem with online sports betting. He said in this day and age, gambling and betting on sports is part of the entertainment that goes along with the games.
“I don't have a problem with online sports betting,” Abbott told Wallace. “The reality is, I would be shocked if there are not some Texans who do it already. It's a very common practice and it seems to be part of the entertainment that goes along when you're watching a football game, especially pro football, or other types of sports and things like that. I don't have a problem with that."
There are intense lobbying efforts to bring resort casinos and sports betting to Texas, and a recent survey conducted by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs found that “Almost three out of four Texans (73%) support legalizing destination resort casinos in Texas. 60% support legalizing online sports betting, and 56% support the operation of sportsbooks at professional sports venues.” Support for sports betting among Republicans was 59%.
You can find STTP’s recent coverage of the situation in Texas here.
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
More Super Bowl gambling estimates.
First, from the AGA, as relayed by Robert Linnehan:
The AGA’s numbers (found here) are slightly lower than Legal Sports Report and Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (a newsletter sponsor) that STTP reported last week:
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (a newsletter sponsor) and Eric Ramsey at Legal Sports Report have published estimates for Super Bowl LIX. Both expect betting on this year’s game between the Chiefs and the Eagles to be worth $1.5 billion. The team at JMP Securities has a slightly higher estimate of $1.75 billion.
And from GeoComply’s data, active betting accounts are up 20% year-over-year for the NFL season heading into Sunday’s game.
Stray Thoughts
Supporters of legalizing online casino gambling should pay very close attention to Brandolini’s Law.
Or simply: Keep playing defense, and you will always be playing catchup.