Mid last month, the Empire State saw the launch of its very first regulated sportsbook. This comes six years following the enabling law was passed and a little more than a year because the United Supreme Court abolished the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Sports betting in the state was authorized below a voter-approved referendum back n 2013, a measure that came with some conditions. Most notably, New York’s sports betting activities had been restricted to 4 upstate casinos.
As it stands, sports betting in the state continues to be restricted to in-person or retail betting at the upstate gambling facilities. It was speculated that New York would adhere to within the footsteps of the neighboring states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey by adding on-line wagering to the bill. Unfortunately, this never came to become as the state seemingly snubbed any attempts to modernize the bill. Nonetheless, it goes with out saying that the new law is really a small but significant step for the state because it continues its efforts to clean up its sports betting laws.
There has been a little skepticism with regards to the state’s sports betting industry but issues are starting to gradually take shape. While there’s no ongoing legislative push for an expanded sports betting framework, the New York State Gaming Commission has commissioned a study that seeks to weigh the feasibility of launching on-line gambling.
The firsts sportsbook to go reside was the 1 at Rivers Casino in Schenectady and it marked its grand opening having a grand ceremony whose attendees included numerous public figures including politicians and athletes.
The following sports betting facility to launch was opened by the FanDuel Group at Tioga Downs in Nichols. This became the extremely first sportsbook within the Southern Tier of New York.
New Options for Northern Pennsylvanian Gamblers
Although sports betting is now legal in the Empire State, most of the bettors within the state are nonetheless in a position to access legal gambling choices in the neighboring states effortlessly. Some even prefer them. However it is certainly a start, and, as it turns out, New York’s sports betting facilities are also beginning to draw in gamblers from neighboring states.
For instance, the FanDuel Sportsbook that is located at Tioga Downs is quite close towards the northeast Pennsylvania border – it’s just about 30 miles south of Binghamton, NY and just 15 minutes in the Pennsylvania state line. As such, it’s located strategically enough to attract customers from the Keystone State particularly considering that, Hollywood Sportsbook in Harrisburg and Parx Sportsbook in Bensalem, the closest sportsbooks are about 3 hours away.