Back in July of 2021, when New York leaders were hammering out the details of legalizing mobile sports betting in the country's fourth-biggest state, a debate arose between pro-gambling legislators and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The legislators, primarily state Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, chairmen of their bodies' respective gaming committees, wanted the state to issue a large number of licenses to ensure the process would be fair and inclusive. Cuomo wanted to limit its scope, wary of opposition, while maintaining one of the highest tax rates on such activities in the nation to ensure a robust tax haul for the state.'
Cuomo initially wanted to issue just four licenses, but the legislators were able to push the eventual number to nine, where it has stood since, along with a 51% tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR), highest in the nation.
One group that got left out when legal, regulated sports betting launched on Jan. 8, 2022 in New York: the state's Native American tribes, which had been active in New York gambling for more than 25 years. Pretlow and Addabbo had a series of meetings with leaders of the Mohawk, Oneida, and Seneca tribes at the time, and complained as the process moved along that they weren't being given proper access to what could prove a golden goose.