By Dan Murphy
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized sports bettering to any state that chose to do so. The State of New Jersey took the lead and now has become the number-one state for sports betting, climbing ahead of Las Vegas and the State of Nevada, with more than $5 billion in sports bets placed in New Jersey in two years.
One reason for the billions in sports bets is that New Yorkers are crossing the border and placing their bets at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Race tracks,or in Atlantic City. And with the first week of the National Football League approaching this weekend, the number of bets, and dollars waged, will certainly increase.
Another way New Yorkers can place a sports bet in New Jersey is on their phones. The caveat is that they must be physically in the State of New Jersey to make a bet on their favorite team.
In New York, the current law says that you can bet on sports, but only at four casinos in upstate, including in Monticello, which is the nearest for Westchester residents. New Yorkers cannot bet on any one of the many mobile sports betting apps now available and heavily advertised.
“Jersey is doing fantastically right now,” said Westchester Assemblyman Gary Pretlow. “I know people that work out of Wall Street (who) are jumping on a PATH train and placing their bets… across the platform to Hoboken and going back to Wall Street.”
Pretlow and other Westchester state legislators want sports gambling legalized and permitted in all New York casinos, including Empire MGM Casino in Yonkers. The argument for legalizing all types of sports gambling in New York is similar to the argument for legalizing marijuana – that neighboring states like Massachusetts have legalized pot, and are collecting the revenues from New Yorkers who then turn around and come home.
New Yorkers are doing the same with sports gambling, by heading just over the George Washington Bridge, placing a bet and coming home. Or by heading up to the Catskills to place their bets. At least if the bet is made in the Catskills, the revenues stay in New York.
I have not been to the Monticello Sports Book, but hope to go one day. But my question remains, if its legal to be up in Monticello, why can’t the same sports bets be made at Yonkers Raceway?
Even better, can I legally make a sports bet from my phone in New York State? Currently, the answer is no. A final question to the Governor and the State legislators. Don’t we need the revenue?
