The fight over online sports betting in New York has been raging for the past several years. Now, it’s back again.
Lawmakers in the state are hoping that a looming budget deficit and falling revenues may finally help regulate internet sports bets.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo and Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow have been long time advocates of the activity, and have now hinted that online wagering legislation could pass out of the legislature before the end of the year.
“My colleagues know that we need the money and there will be revenue deficiencies next year compared to this year, so I don’t think it’s a hard sell for the cause of tens of millions of additional revenues,” Pretlow said during an industry conference Tuesday. “They can’t thumb their nose at it.”
Several additional states such as Louisiana, Connecticut, Mississippi, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, California, South Carolina, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Ohio, New York, and West Virginia, began drafting bills to legalize sports betting soon after New Jersey and Delaware. Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,and West Virginia were able to pass legislation legalizing sports betting within their states.
You can read more about online sports betting in New York at the Baltimore Sun.
