If all goes to plan it looks like nine mobile sportsbooks could launch in New York state sometime early next year.
On Monday the New York State Gaming Commission announced nine sports betting operators they recommended to receive mobile sports betting licenses. Those nine sportsbooks included Bally Bet, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, PointsBet, Resorts World, Rush Street Interactive and WynnBET.
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When are New York mobile sports betting licenses awarded?
Under the licensing agreements the chosen sportsbooks will have their gross sports betting revenue taxed at a lofty 51 percent, and their licenses will be good for 10 years.
There was no exact date announced for the launch of mobile sports betting in the state, but it is expected to occur early next year in time for the Super Bowl. Each licensed operator can follow their own timeline for launch as long as the complete all the necessary steps to do so.
One provision under the New York laws that could take some time for sports betting operators to setup is the placement of servers to handle sports betting. According to New York law these servers must be placed on the property of one of the state’s commercial casinos because all bets need to be routed through a casino property to meet the definition of on-site casino gambling.
Even if a sportsbook operator somehow completed all the necessary steps to launch in record time they still have to wait until the regulations are printed in the state register. Right now, the earliest that could happen is November 24.
With only nine sports betting licenses being recommended by the Gaming Commission that means a few applicants were denied and at least for now will be shutout of the New York market. The failed applicants included Barstool Sportsbook, Fanatics Sportsbook, bet365, FOX Bet and theScore Bet.
To be considered a qualified applicant sportsbook has to receive a technical score of at least 60 out of a possible 75 points. From the list of failed applicants only bet365 scored high enough using the state’s scoring system to be considered for a license.
However, bet365 failed to make to cut because the committee did not determine that adding bet365 to the license pool would increase state revenue.