Although the US sports betting and gaming industry has expanded rapidly over the past year, hurdles are still encountered, and this week both New York and Louisiana experienced delays.
Discussing the developments in the latest edition of the Legal Sports Report (LSR), hosts Adam Candee, Dustin Gouker and Matt Brown broke down developments in the two jurisdictions, as well as other major stateside stories.
Starting in the Empire State, the New York State Gaming Commission has failed to launch the bidding contest for online sports betting operators by 1 July, as required by law.
The delay appears to have added another layer of confusion to the already complex situation America’s third most populous state – Gouker had previously described the recently introduced betting regulations as a ‘mess of policy’, whilst others have observed that New York gambling authorities had nearly two and a half months to prepare for the bidding period.
Although the deadline for operators to showcase their proposals for New York sports betting is due tomorrow, Candee noted that he was observing developments in the state with a ‘pinch of salt’, and Gouker also stated that ‘there are a wide range of outcomes’.
Candee remarked: “If the whole idea of going to this restrictive model that does not give New Yorkers a significant amount of choice on who they bet on sports was to create new revenue – we’re still not really sold on how that happens.”
Heading south to Louisiana, the state’s goal of launching a sports betting market prior to the commencement of the 2021 National Football League (NFL) season has faced a significant hurdle, as the Louisiana Gambling Control Board (LGCB) still does not have a chair.
Although state Governor John Bel Edwards has signed all three pieces of legislation sponsored by Senators of the state legislature, regulators cannot move forward with the implementation of the market without a LGCB chair.
“You need people in charge of gaming to roll out new forms of gaming,” Gouker observed. “They don’t have a gaming control chair in Louisiana, so they can’t have rules for sports betting, so I guess we’re on hiatus now.”
Despite the difficulties encountered in New York and Louisiana, heading West the LSR hosts encountered more positive news for the growth of the American betting and gaming industry, as Bally’s secured a market access partnership with Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Noting that this marked the first time a women’s basketball team has signed a partnership with a betting operator, Candee remarked: “Add another team to the Arizona ranks. We already had FanDuel and the Suns, Caesars and the Diamondbacks, we already had DraftKings and the PGA Tour in the US Open. Things are certainly moving right along in Arizona.”
Source – Legal Sports Report YouTube Channel
