New York Gov. signs online sports betting bill into law

As expected, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed budget legislation Monday that includes the framework for the state's online sports betting plan, officially making the vertical legal in the Empire State.

However, New York remains months away from officially taking legal online sports bets. Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. told ESNY the benchmark start date for the state will be Feb. 13, 2022, the date of Super Bowl LVI.

Addabbo also noted there is a window of opportunity for the state to begin taking bets during the NFL regular season or playoffs prior to the Super Bowl, but it would depend on the number of bid applications received and the strength of those packages.

The New York legislature agreed to a $212 billion state budget earlier this month that includes an online sports betting plan which closely resembles a plan promoted by Gov. Cuomo throughout negotiations. The proposed bidding timeline for the New York online sports betting program will lead New York Gaming Commission to the end of 2021 to select a minimum of two platform providers for the state’s betting program. Included in the platform providers' bids will be a minimum of four skins for state gamblers to utilize.

A request for applications will be issued by the state by at least July 1, and interested parties will enter into a competitive bidding process. The New York Gaming Commission will take into account the potential platform providers’ gross revenue estimates, the tax rate it’s willing to pay the state, past experience in the field, a timeline of its potential operations and its willingness to enter into revenue sharing agreements with the state’s Native American tribes or nations.

The minimum tax rate in the state has been set for platform providers at 13%. However, this will likely be driven much higher once the bidding process begins, as Cuomo said in previous reports he expects nearly a 50% to 55% tax rate.

The state will have 150 days after receiving applications to select two platform providers. The selected platform providers will each pay the state a one-time fee of $25 million to host sports betting. In addition, platform provider servers to host sports betting programs will be housed in a New York casino. Providers will pay casinos $5 million annually to house their mobile betting servers.