Sports betting is becoming more widespread in the US where more and more states are signing betting into law since the Supreme Court has stricken down the Professional and Amateur Act of 1992 in May 2018. With that, all states in America are now allowed to legalize and regulate local betting.
The operation of sportsbooks in the US has always been banned because of PASPA. seems is why Americans would quickly turn to offshore bookies to place their bets. The most popularly wagered on sports nowadays are football, rugby, basketball, and cricket. People would flock sites like 10 CRIC just to place their bets as it’s not exactly illegal to place wagers on bookies that are based outside the US.
Currently, there are already 20 states that have already signed betting into law. This includes states like New York and Michigan. New York, however, is facing issues about the regulation of mobile betting in the state.
When New York signed betting into law last year, this doesn’t include the most popular way to place a bet which is online or mobile. Since New York launched betting in July of last year, it has been struggling to get the revenue it was hoping to get and this is mainly because of the lack of mobile betting in the state.
By the end of 2019, New York only made a total betting revenue of 7 million US dollars. Meanwhile, states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania are making over a hundred million dollars each year. The majority of the bets placed in these states are made mobile.
One may think that New York is already preparing to launch mobile betting after learning this but this isn’t really the case. Governor Andrew Cuomo seems to have doubts about having to regulate mobile betting.
During his 2020 budget discussion, the governor didn’t mention that they are going to have online betting passed in the state. Based on one of his statements, it even appears that he finds mobile betting irresponsible.
Senator Joe Addabbo Jr., the representative who backed the betting bill in New York, acknowledged this. He said, “Our governor has apprehension, the speaker of the assembly has apprehension about gambling. To me, it’s a no-brainer. We’re already behind the 8-ball when we should have been out in front as soon as the Supreme Court said it was legal.”
He also explained why mobile betting is needed in the state. “My constituents in downstate New York are not driving two hours to go to a casino. They are going 20 minutes into New Jersey.”
Online betting giant FanDuel shared how New Jersey is benefitting from the lack of mobile betting in New York. Apparently, around 25 percent of the total revenue that New Jersey gains each month are coming from New Yorkers. That’s around 40 million US dollars of lost revenue for New York.
Senator Addabbo is still hopeful to change Governor Cuomo’s mind before the final budget gets released in April. Hopefully mobile betting gets launched in New York just like how Michigan is planning to.
Michigan is also one of the most recent states that joined the list of states that legalized betting. It only did so in December of 2019. The state is already working on rolling out both in-person and mobile betting.
However, it is likely that in-person betting will be launched first as the process of establishing regulations for online betting may take quite a while. The spokesperson of the Michigan Gaming Control Board, Mary Kay Bean, it may even take about a year before regulations are set.
Michigan has already started accepting applications for licenses as early as January and has recently signed two partnerships. PointsBet and The Stars Group are now the first two betting partners of the state.
PointsBet will be working with the tribal casinos to create a betting app as well as online casinos. The Stars Group will them team up with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. The Stars Group will provide the casino an avenue for its Fox Bet sports betting brand and it has the right to operate and brand online betting, casino, and poker in the state.
The announcement of Michigan’s partnership with these two companies is just really the start of the preparation for regulating betting in the state. There are a total of 24 slots to be filled and licenses to be given away, and so far, it’s looking like the locals of Michigan will have plenty of options once betting is already up in the state.