The rules for mobile NY sports betting were adopted Monday with very little discussion during a quick commission meeting.
The New York State Gaming Commission voted unanimously to adopt the proposed rules. Those were announced July 9, the same time the RFA went live.
Aside from an explanation from NYSGC Executive Director Rob Williams, not much happened at the meeting. The entire meeting took under nine minutes, with the rules the only item on the agenda.
Williams confirmed all selections must be made by Jan. 6, 2022. That is a positive sign that indicates no change to the current schedule because of Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s resignation. The regulatory process is expected to continue uninterrupted.
Some changes in adopted NY sports betting rules
The proposed rules, which also included updates to retail betting, apparently received 14 changes from the pre-proposal draft that launched with the RFA.
Those changes are not easy to find. There were a few instances of language being cleaned up between the two versions but nothing glaring changed.
Williams explained the process concerning the rules:
“As part of this RFA development, it was necessary to create a draft proposed regulations set to provide insight into the anticipated regulatory environment governing mobile sports wagering. The draft rules were caveated as being pre-proposal, and a document that was subject to commissioner consideration and proposal with a notice that the proposal might be revised during the administrative rule-making process.
“… As for the pre-proposal rule circulation, we received 94 comments, of which 42 were duplicative, nine simply sought clarification of terms, meaning there were 43 comments seeking change to the pre-proposal document. Following a review, staff accepted 14 comments in full or in part.”
Seeing those comments and the commission’s suggestions would make it much easier to nail down what changed. Those comments are not easily accessible, though, as they must requested under New York’s Freedom of Information Act laws.
Sportsbook oral presentations up next
Next in the mobile NY sports betting process are oral presentations for the six bidders, which can start Sept. 1. The industry received greater insight into those bids Friday when the NYSGC released all the redacted applications.
It will be there that the FanDuel-led consortium can explain how it sees no room for more than four operators at a 50% tax rate. That might be tough to do when the other large consortium of Kambi and five skins said it can see a nine-skin market at a 51% tax rate.
Those high tax rates are the main reason why Tioga Downs and Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural decided not to bid, he told LSR.
