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FEATURE: OSB
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
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Euphoria, then dismay greet Andrew Cuomo’s embrace of sports betting. By David McKee
here’s nothing like a budgetary dose of Covid-19 for some politicians to have a cometo-Jesus moment about gambling. In the case of New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, there has been a dramatic volte-face on the issue of online sports betting. While sports wagering exists in New York, it is only on a small-scale, in-person basis. Cuomo has long opposed mobile wagering on the grounds that it would require a constitutional amendment. No longer. Now Cuomo says it only takes the Legislature’s say-so, as he looks for ways to plug sportsbettingoperator.com
ABOVE: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
Coronavirus-caused gaps in the Empire State budget. (Cuomo’s even floated the legalization of marijuana.) In a statement announcing his change of heart, Cuomo wrote, “At a time when New York faces a historic budget deficit due to the ... pandemic, the current online sports wagering structure incentivizes a large segment of New York residents to travel out of state to make online sports wagers or continue to patronize black markets ... New York has the potential to be the largest sports wagering market in the United States, and by legalizing online sports betting we aim to keep millions of dollars in tax revenue here at home, 13
