Top stories around our network this week
The biggest story in the sports betting industry last year was undoubtedly New York’s arrival as the largest state to implement mobile wagering, generating far more cash and tax revenue than anyone thought possible. One of the biggest stories of 2023 could well be various changes in the Empire State’s gaming laws to increase the number of digital sportsbooks, reduce their tax rate, and add online casino games and poker to what is permitted.
Those forms of expansion were proposed this week as either bills already introduced or legislation that is still being drafted in Albany, with the changes being initiated by the same two lawmakers — Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow — who fought for years to legalize mobile sports betting. The mere fact that the pair are introducing the measures is no guarantee that anything will be voted on or enacted, but the influential roles played by Addabbo and Pretlow in the state Capitol suggest that the topics will at least be seriously discussed.
Gaming issues were already certain to be at the forefront of many New Yorkers’ minds this year as a result of plans to license three casinos in the New York City area, with heavy jockeying among influential developers for the rights to do so. How that discussion plays out alongside debate over further sports betting and iGaming expansion will be quite interesting to follow. We at and our network of other sites will be monitoring the developments closely, just as with all of the other issues covered in stories below from the past week.