The state of New York is seeking a way to be on the list of states that will embrace legal and regulated sports betting if New Jersey is successful in its Supreme Court bid later this year. Legislators in the Empire State want sports betting to be introduced to casinos, race tracks and off track betting locations, and they want it sooner rather than later.
The Chair of the Westchester Assembly’s Racing and Wagering Committee, Gary Pretlow, said that “the lawyers are looking at that right now.”
The idea is to speed up, as much as the law allows, the process by bypassing current amendment processes. A potential new bill to expand gambling in New York has to be approved by a number of legislative sessions, and then go before voters who get the final say. This entire process could take at least until 2019. New York feels that if it wants to get ahead of the competition – or at least stay in the race – it has to find a way to cut the process shorter.
On December the 4th, Supreme Court judges are set to hear New Jersey’s lawyers fight against the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Participation Act, and the state’s appeal to allow sports betting at its tracks and casinos. A number of states have already tabled their support, among them New York, as well as others such as Kentucky, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and more.
According to Assemblyman David Weprin, (D-Queens), a constitutional amendment “would certainly give us momentum to get it [a measure he is sponsoring to allowing sports betting through a constitutional amendment] passed.”
This is not the first time that New York has attempted to legalize sports betting. In 2016, a bill to legalize sports betting and daily fantasy sports passed successfully through the state legislature, but when it reached the Attorney General’s office, it became a bone of contention between the state and anti-gambling groups regarding its constitutional validity.
Not all states have in their constitutions that sports betting laws can only be changed by voter ballot, and these are the states that will most likely grab a chunk of the market initially if the Supreme Court votes in New Jersey’s favor next month.
