Legalized sports betting will make its biggest conquest yet when the state of New York goes live on Saturday, just in time for the final week of the NFL’s regular season.
The New York Gaming Commission has given approval for online bookmakers DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive to start accepting bets at 9 a.m. local time.
The move also comes just in time for Monday’s CFP National Championship game between Alabama and Georgia, as well as the upcoming NFL playoffs and Super Bowl.
New York becomes the largest state to approve online sports betting. The country’s three most populous states — California, Florida and Texas — still have not approved online wagering. New York previously allowed on-site sports wagering at casinos in 2019.
As part of the stipulations for approving online sports wagering, the four approved bookmakers must align themselves with a land-based casino and pay a $5 million annual hosting fee. There also will be a 51-percent tax on the four bookmakers for each of the next 10 years.
Five more online sports wagering companies have requested approval to operate in New York: Bally’s, BetMGM, Genting’s Resorts World, PointsBet and Wynn Resorts.
–Field Level Media