Legalisation of iGaming in New York Not Expected in 2024
Short-term legalisation of online casinos in New York is in doubt, now that the governor has not included the tax revenue from online casinos in the 2025 budget. As a result, legalisation of iGaming in the state of New York is not expected to take place before 2025. Earlier this month, Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr introduced a bill to legalise online casinos in New York.
The optimism of online casino regulation in New York has been given a serious blow now that Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has not included the possible tax revenue from online casinos in New York’s 2025 budget. It is therefore expected that legalisation of iGaming in New York will not take place in 2024.
As of 2024, there are six US states where online casinos are regulated and legal (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia, Delaware, and New Jersey). According to Forbes, sports gambling is a lot more accepted in the United States which explains why it is legal in already 38 states (and Puerto Rico and Washington DC).
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“2024 Should’ve Been The Year”
Whilst the potential revenue from online casinos is not included in New York’s 2025 budget, the tax revenue to be collected from horse racing betting was included. This will feel like a defeat, especially to Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. At the beginning of this month, he submitted a new bill for the legalisation of online casinos in New York. An earlier proposal that was submitted by Addabbo Jr. in February 2022 did not come through either. Optimistically, 2024 was announced as the year that New York residents would get access to online gambling and a lottery product. Budget deficits could be a way to get the law through as it would lead to a revenue boost for the state of New York. Neighbouring states Pennsylvania and New Jersey have also served as an example of iGaming’s potential.
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New Deadline in March
Addabo has until March 31 to convince the lawmakers as agreement on New York’s final budget for 2024 must be reached on this date. If the bill is approved against all odds, all forms of betting will become legal in New York. Currently, sports betting and horse racing are the only forms of legal gambling activity in the state of New York. Both land-based and online casinos are currently not legal and regulated in New York, although it is expected that brick and mortar casinos will get the green light this year.
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New York’s Focus Is On Land-Based Casinos
Reacting to the latest news, Howard Glaser, Global Head of Government Affairs at iGaming provider Light & Wonder, said that he thinks the chance of legalisation of online casinos in New York is less than 50%. According to Glaser, the state’s focus seems to go out to the legalisation of land-based casinos instead. Several major operators in the country, such as Caesars, LV Sands, Resorts World, and MGM Resorts, have already expressed their interest in obtaining a licence to establish gambling venues in the state of New York. Every licence is expected to cost $500 million (NZ$ 817 million).
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