The proposal comes a year after Addabbo introduced a similar bill in 2022 that never gained traction and died in committee. Now, though, with the Empire State more accepting of legal gambling expansion than in previous years, Addabbo will take another run at making NY sports betting more expansive than ever.

As detailed in S 2343, if passed, online sportsbooks in New York can enter into an agreement with an entity that holds a license to offer fixed-odds horse betting in New York, which could be an arena or stadium, to install sports betting kiosks.  This would allow sports betting kiosks at Madison Square Garden, Yankees Stadium, Citi Field, or any other such facility as long as an agreement is reached with an operator.

Once done, those NY betting apps can integrate such markets within their offerings.

Customers would be able to place bets and deposit or withdraw funds directly at the kiosks.

In addition to the allowance of sports betting kiosks, Addabbo’s bill would allow online sports betting operators in the state to accept bets on fixed-odds horse racing.

This would be contingent on the online sports betting operator entering “into a fixed odds sports wagering agreement with an entity that has the authority to provide the content of such horse racing event.”

Fixed-odds horse racing differs from pari-mutuel wagering. Fixed-odds horse racing means if a wager is submitted on a horse at 50:1, those odds will lock until the race begins. Pari-mutuel wagering allows the odds to change right up until the race begins.

According to the bill, all fixed-odds sports bets must first be approved by the New York State Gaming Commission before going into effect.

Ten to 12 operators would see an online sports betting tax rate of 50%; 13 to 14 operators a 35% tax rate; and 15 or more operators would see a tax rate of 25%.

By Robert Linnehan