New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Says No To Mobile Sports Betting

Updated On Mar 27, 2020 by Landon Wheeler

Andrew CuomoWith the coronavirus pandemic going on, it might surprise people that state legislators are still working.

While state legislators are focusing on combating COVID-19 and the implications that it brings, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said no to the proposal of adding mobile sports betting and building three downtown casinos from several Senators.

A team of New York state senators led by Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. brought up a proposal recently on how the state would try to deal with its $6 billion deficit. They hoped that Gov. Cuomo would see the advantages of mobile sports betting as a big revenue earner, along with the casinos.

Considering that the state is being hit by the coronavirus, which is eating into state funds and potentially lowering next year’s revenue, additional revenue streams are becoming a necessity.

But it seems that the disruptions caused by the coronavirus also made negotiating difficult. Usually, the state’s legislature comes up with budget proposals in the middle of March and negotiates with the governor over approval until April 1. The state lawmakers behind the gambling proposal would have normally added it into the normal house budget proposal and had the entire legislature behind them.

The threat of the coronavirus had them go into negotiations alone as the legislature scratched a house budget proposal and went ahead with their negotiations for items on the budget. Without the support, the gambling proposal had no teeth to it.

Will Continue To Fight For Mobile Betting

Despite being positive, it would have been a difficult thing for the mobile sports betting proposal to go onto a house budget. This is because Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie agrees with Governor Cuomo about not letting mobile wagering happen in New York State.

Addabbo feels that he had a good chance of making a strong push for mobile sports betting. He and his associate, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, insist that they had an answer to all of the concerns that the Governor had about allowing mobile sports betting. This refusal is not stopping Addabbo either. He still plans to continue promoting mobile sports betting for addition to the state budget until it is finalized.

Addabbo continues to remain optimistic that New York will benefit significantly from approving three land based casino licenses and mobile sports betting. However, he will have to take no for now and wait for an appropriate time before pushing his bill once again!

All things casino related are what interests Landon, and having been involved in that industry for the last thirty years and having actually worked in several different roles in the casino industry he is definitely very well placed to keep you in the know in regards to what is happening in the casino industry as a whole.

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