New York Sen. Addabbo Unlikely To Support Prop Bet Ban
In a move that isn’t sitting well with gambling proponents, legislation is afoot in Albany to ban prop betting in New York.
The bill, introduced last week by New York Rep. Carrie Woerner, Chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Racing & Wagering, seeks to amend the definition of “sports wagering” under the sports betting law passed in 2021 by striking the language that includes props.
From A09336:
‘Sports wagering’ means wagering on the final outcome, score or winner of a sporting [
events or any portion thereof, or on the individual performance statistics of athletes participating in a sporting event, or combination of sporting events] event or contest …
The bill, though, is unlikely to receive the vital support of New York Sen. Joseph Addabbo, Woerner’s counterpart in the Senate as Chair of the Racing, Gaming & Wagering Committee and New York State’s legislative champion of regulated gambling.
Do the Right (and Harder) Thing
While Addabbo acknowledges the issues the legislation intends to address, he leans on his “regulate instead of ban” refrain when articulating his position.
“We see an issue here, right? We see professional sports getting caught up into these kinds of illegal bets and getting caught up into criminal activity,” Addabbo told Gambling Insider on Friday. “[But] it’s easier to ban than to do what is really the more correct thing to do and maybe the harder thing to do, which is regulate.”
New York is among the states that already do not allow prop betting on college sports.
Addabbo believes an outright ban on prop betting will push New Yorkers to other states, illegal bookies and offshore sites.
“As far as banning it across the board in a very competitive market, I would be a little hesitant about that,” he said.
Negative Impact on Tax Revenue
Woerner’s legislation becomes an even harder sell when considering the correlated reduction in tax revenue for the state.
Prop bets account for an increasingly larger percentage of sportsbooks’ handle, and same-game parlays, a key revenue driver for operators, would be rendered virtually extinct should the amendment pass.
The bill was introduced as New York reported record sports betting revenue of $96 million for the week ending Jan 18, breaking December’s record by $15 million.
Another Woerner-sponsored bill, A 6013, would raise the maximum number of sports betting licensees in the state from nine to 16, while lowering the tax rate based on how many licenses are active.
Addabbo isn’t convinced this one is good for the state, either.
“Somebody has to tell me that, credibly, it makes fiscal sense to do that,” he said. “We’ve always spoken about …lowering the tax rate from 51% but increasing the amount of platform providers, right? Nobody has made that argument that that’s going to be beneficial to New York State.”
Efforts to Restrict Gambling in Other States
In Massachusetts, Sen. John Keenan reintroduced a bill last week that goes even further than Woerner’s A 09336 in New York, eliminating in-game bets as well as props.
Keenan’s S.302 also raises the tax rate imposed on online sportsbooks to 51%, up from 20%, which would put Massachusetts in line with New York’s highest-in-the-country levy on gross gaming revenue.
The bill would also ban sports betting advertising from televised sports events, require sportsbooks to conduct affordability checks on customers who gamble more than $1,000 a day or $10,000 a month, and prohibit executives, employees or affiliates from being paid based on customers’ wagers or deposits.
Keenan has regrets about supporting the legalization of sports betting in the first place, going so far as to apologize for voting in favor of it.
“When I voted to legalize sports betting, I never thought it would become what it is,” Keenan testified when originally introducing the bill in November. “We unleashed an industry that now promotes betting on anything and everything imaginable and unimaginable all over the world, 24 hours a day, every single day.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is also among the regretful.
“Ohio shouldn’t have done it,” DeWine told the AP in November.
He’s endorsing, in fact, the banning of all prop bets.
Addabbo shares no such regrets.
“I don’t regret it at all because I think we made it safer,” he explained, “and mobile sports betting since 2023 has garnered over $3 billion for education. …
“I talk to my colleagues who are a little apprehensive about gaming and expanding gaming in New York — and I get it — but they love the revenue.”
Related: Addabbo Urges NY Gov. Kathy Hochul To Support iGaming Bill
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