Lawmakers in New York continue to meet in a bid to hammer out rules that would govern a new betting landscape in the state. One of the things that is being considered is the possibility of paying fees to professional sports leagues, or the so called ‘integrity fee’, that has been proposed by these leagues. Gaming regulators have confirmed that all of the components of an earlier introduced state senate bill are in the process of being considered. One of these components is the fee that professional sports leagues are demanding that gaming regulators pay so that they can afford to counter cheating.
Other states that are in the process of adopting sports betting bills have not heeded the sports leagues’ demand for an integrity fee, which makes New York unique in even considering it.
There are high hopes that the sports betting bill, that was first introduced in March this year, will set the stage for changes to New York’s gambling landscape.
A panel discussion about gaming in New York was recently held at the annual gaming industry conference in Saratoga. One of the panelists, the chairman of the New York Senate’s gaming committee, John Bonacic, was the one who introduced the March bill and he is hoping that it becomes a blueprint for all state regulators nationwide.
Among the points proposed by Bonacic is a 0.20% fee paid to major sports leagues, as well as an 8.5% state tax on betting revenues.
According to Bonacic’s calculations, if $500 million in legal sports bets were placed each year at New York casinos, the state government could pocket over $40 million.
Panelists at the gaming conference, however, pointed out that New York casino operators would be very resistant to the idea of paying out integrity fees, especially since they would be the only state doing so.
Commenting on this point was Seth Young, the executive director of online gaming at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, who said that casino operators view these fees as totally unnecessary, especially since casinos only see around 5% margin on sports book operations.
