Discussions of gambling in New York State nowadays focus on the seeming omnipresence of mobile sports gambling[1] and whether the rise in popularity of this new attraction will lead to an increase in gambling addiction. So far, the answer is mixed.
Source: https://nysba.org/the-state-of-new-york-gambling/
Using 2023 statistics, New York State is far and away the leading state in mobile sports wagering, with $1.689 billion in gross gaming revenue. Approximately 15% of overall sports gaming revenue originated in New York.[2] Nonetheless, New York’s per capita wagering numbers are considerably below that of New Jersey. New Yorkers wagered $19.103 billion on sports gambling in 2023, an average of $976 per capita. With a retention rate of 8.8%, the per capita loss of New Yorkers on mobile sports wagering was $86. As large as this number is, it is dwarfed by New Jersey’s numbers. New Jerseyans in 2023 wagered an average of $1,288 per capita on sports and lost on average $107, based on a retention rate of 8.3%. The fact is that New Jerseyans bet 32% more per capita on sports than New Yorkers.
There is little consistency in New York State law governing which sources of gambling revenue contribute to funds to treat problem gambling. Currently, funds for gambling treatment and education funds are derived from the four commercial casinos[3] and from mobile sports wagering.[4] The four commercial casinos even need to have an approved problem gambling plan.[5] Yet, no funds come from other gambling sources for gambling treatment and education. While nearly 60% of New York’s gross gambling revenue is derived from the lottery, the lottery contributes no revenue to problem gambling.
Even so, there are steps that can be taken to prevent gambling addiction, including sports mobile betting. For one, uniform marketing and age limitations are needed. The minimum age for wagering in New York on social games, fantasy sports, traditional lottery (other than Quick Draw) and pari-mutuel racing is 18.[6] It is 21 for Quick Draw, video lottery terminals, commercial casinos and sports wagering. There is little reason – other than history – as to why there should not be a uniform minimum age for all legalized gambling.
And just as important, while it is true that New York State far outdistances other states in the field of sports betting,[7] mobile sports betting is just one component of New York’s broad gambling ecosystem.
New York State technically bans all forms of gambling under the state constitution, except for specifically named exceptions.[8] The exceptions include a state lottery, pari-mutuel horse racing, casino gambling at no more than seven facilities, bingo, and games of chance operated by authorized nonprofit organizations. By now, the exceptions have largely swallowed up the rule. Off-track betting becomes permissible as a form of pari-mutuel wagering on horses. Tribal gambling was initially authorized due to its similarity to games of chance.[9] Video lottery terminals become authorized as an electronic version of a paper scratch-off ticket. Sports wagering is considered a part of casino gambling, and mobile sports are deemed to be accepted at the casino locations where the internet servers are located.
Reviewing the actual gambling revenue in New York State, you find in 2023 a gross gambling revenue of $9.66 billion.[10] Mobile sports gambling provides 17.4% of the revenue, slightly more than one-sixth of the state’s gambling revenue. Standing by themselves, both the traditional lottery[11] and the video lottery terminals[12] produce more gross gambling revenue than mobile sports wagering.
Lessons and Observations
- Foremost, New York is a lottery state. The fact is that in terms of gambling revenues, mobile sports betting in New York is no competition for the state lottery. When it comes to gross gambling revenue – the amount of money lost in New York from gambling[18] – or in terms of tax revenue from gambling,[19] it’s the lottery where the players and the revenue are. The state lottery accounts for 59.3% of the state’s gross gambling revenue.
Looking at 2023 numbers from state government reports, mobile sports gambling produced $1.699 billion in gross gambling revenue. The lottery produced $5.72 billion in gross gambling revenues. Total sports gambling tax revenue to the state in 2023 was $861,000. The lottery produced $3.8 billion in tax revenue.
- Besides the preeminence of the lottery in New York, the numbers also show that New York is a major casino state. Adding in the gross gambling revenue of the tribal casinos, the commercial casinos and the video lottery/racino facilities, New York’s land-based casino facilities produced $4.2 billion in casino gross gaming revenue. Resorts World at Aqueduct has been recognized as the single largest casino in the nation. There are only three states that produce more gross gambling revenue from physical casino facilities. These are Nevada, with $15.5 billion in gross gambling revenue from 454 reporting licensees,[20] California, with approximately $12 billion[21] in gross gambling revenue from 87 casinos,[22] and Illinois, with $4.4 billion in gross gambling revenue.[23]
If you define upstate New York in the manner that Section 1310 of the Racing Law does,[24] then the gambling revenue from casinos in New York would be extremely high. It would include the revenue from the four private casinos, the tribal casinos, and the six video lottery facilities in the state other than the three downstate facilities.[25] With the six upstate video lottery facilities accounting for $533 million in revenue in 2023, upstate casinos by themselves produced $2.39 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2023. Upstate New York, with a population of approximately 7 million people,[26] produced 84% of the gross gaming revenue of the casinos in Atlantic City.[27] Considering that New Jersey’s population is a third higher than upstate New York’s,[28] upstate New York is already a significant center of casino activity.
- New York is already an urban casino state. There are casinos in New York’s three largest cities. Resorts World at Aqueduct is already the nation’s largest casino in terms of gross gambling revenue.[29] The Seneca Nation’s Buffalo Creek Casino is in downtown Buffalo, and Empire City Casino in Yonkers is one of the largest casinos in the nation. Besides these large cities, there are casinos in the cities of Schenectady, Niagara Falls, Saratoga Springs, Newburgh, Batavia and Salamanca.[30]
New York State is hardly alone in locating casinos in urban centers. Most of the large cities in mid-20th century America now have casinos. Of the 10 largest cities in the United States in 1950, seven have casinos.[31] One – Los Angeles – has card clubs that function as mini-casinos. The remaining two – Washington, D.C. and Boston – have enormous casinos located nearly adjacent to their borders.[32] Urban casinos are a regular feature, not a rarity, in 21st-century urban America.
With gambling almost omnipresent in America, the effect of an urban casino on crime rates and the quality of life is debatable. The crime rate for the 106th New York City precinct in Queens, where the Resorts World casino opened in 2011, increased 0.4% from 2011 to 2023. At the same time, the citywide crime rate increased by 18.8%. Since the turn of the 21st century, the crime rate at the 106th precinct has decreased by 42.8%. The citywide crime rate decreased over the same period by 30.3%.[33]
- Horse racing is especially vulnerable. Sixty years ago, in 1963 when pari-mutuel horse racing was the only legal form of betting in New York, the state’s pari-mutuel racetracks produced $123.35 million in state revenue.[34] Factoring the changes in the consumer price index since 1963, this amounts to $1.23 billion. Horse racing in 1963 produced 43% more in inflation-adjusted tax revenue than sports wagering produced in 2023. In real economic terms, state revenue from horse racing in 2023 was 1.6% of what it was in 1963.
While there have been significant decreases in the popularity of thoroughbred racing, the situation is far worse in harness racing. In 1963, live on-track harness racing constituted 45% of the racing handle in New York State. By 2023, that number had fallen to 4.45% of New York’s live racing handle, even though New York State racetracks held 836 harness racing programs in 2023 – 552 more programs than New York’s thoroughbred tracks. Nearly 75% of New York’s racing programs were at harness tracks. Gross gambling revenue from wagering on harness racing in New York in 2023 was most likely less than $30 million. Harness racing amounts to less than 3% of New York’s gross gambling revenue.[35] Harness racing’s survival is dependent almost entirely on the allowances each racetrack receives from casinos and video lottery income.
The one growth area in New York horse racing brings with it its share of issues. The growth in New York racing has been at the advance deposit wagering companies. These are the multi-state corporations offering pari-mutuel wagering through the internet but without brick-and-mortar facilities. The three principal advance deposit wagering companies operating in New York State are Xpressbet,[36] TwinSpires,[37] and TVG.[38] Of these groups, TVG is by far the dominant player, accounting for more than half the New York market. The growth in the advance deposit wagering handle has been accomplished largely through a concomitant reduction in handle at New York’s OTBs. In 2023, these companies collectively accounted for $593 million in handle or 37% of total in-state handle. Off-track betting facilities accounted for 20% of the total in-state handle. The advance deposit wagering handle share has been expanding rapidly in New York. It increased by 73% from 2019 to 2023. At the same time, the off-track betting handle in New York decreased by 67%. It has now fallen to 54% of the advance deposit wagering handle in New York.
We now have a situation where only one of the state’s remaining active off-track betting facilities (Capital District OTB) survives without the addition of video lottery revenues.[39]
- The state has begun placing some marketing and advertising restrictions on gambling, but these efforts have been irregular and sporadic. Thus, there are statutory guidelines for advertising and marketing for fantasy sports,[40] statutory provisions on advertising restrictions for commercial casinos,[41] regulations on advertising and marketing for lottery courier services[42] and regulations on advertising and marketing for sports wagering.[43] The sports wagering advertising restrictions go further and target advertising on college campuses. The regulations provide that “sports wagering shall not be promoted or advertised in college – or university-owned news assets (e.g., school newspapers, radio, telecasts) or advertised on college or university campuses.”[44]
Again, the issue is that the advertising standards differ for each type of gambling activity. The one statewide standard is contained in Section 111 of the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering, and Breeding Law requiring gaming advertisements to have a problem gambling hotline number.[45] This is a minimal statewide requirement, and there is a need for broader uniform standards for all gambling marketing and advertising. A national standard would likely be the best answer to this problem, but in the absence of federal action, some uniform statewide approach is clearly indicated.
- While it may be conventional wisdom that more gambling opportunities lead to additional gambling problems such as bankruptcy, suicides and financial fraud, many experienced social science viewers of problem gambling issues believe that new gambling initiatives only temporarily increase problem gambling in a jurisdiction. Once the new initiative has sunk in, people adjust. That is, after the novelty of initial exposure, people gradually adapt to the risks and hazards associated with potential objects of addiction.[46] This adaptation belief “posits that, over time, individuals in an exposed population adapt by building resistance and immunity, leading to a decline in gambling problems.”[47] Thus, a 2014 study by the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions concluded, “Despite an increase in gambling opportunities, rates of problem gambling remained stable. . . . Using several different criteria, the researchers found no statistically significant change in problem gambling or its more severe form, pathological gambling.”[48]
Comparing the data from the 2006[49] and 2020[50] prevalence studies conducted by the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (the agency was formerly known as the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services) – there appeared to be fewer gambling problems in the 2020 survey than in the 2006 survey. This was true despite the considerable increase in gambling opportunities from 2006-2020. In 2006, 67% of adults gambled in the past year. In 2020, 68% of adults did not gamble in the past year. In 2006, the pathological gambling rate was 0.9%. The analogous rate for 2020 was 0.7%. A 1996 prevalence study (again conducted at a time when there were even fewer gambling opportunities in New York State) conducted by Gemini Research for the New York Council on Problem Gambling found that New York had the “’highest lifetime prevalence of problem gambling’ in the United States.”[51] It also found that in the 1996 survey, 1.4% of the respondents “scored as current probable pathological gamblers.”[52] If you credit these surveys, the rate of pathological/compulsive gambling in New York has not been increasing at all.
The question becomes whether this adaptation thesis still holds true when with mobile sports gambling, every mobile phone can serve as a casino in a pocket.[53] To find out what the actual state of problem gambling is in New York, an independent study is truly needed. It should not be conducted by any entity that receives problem gambling treatment or education funding. It needs to determine whether the number of problem gamblers has increased with the rise of mobile sports gambling, whether there has been any adaptation effect, and whether the dangerous societal problems typically engendered by compulsive gambling – suicide, bankruptcy, over-indebtedness, and fraudulent behavior – have been impacted by mobile sports wagering. The study might look at compulsive gambling rates in states like Texas and California which lack mobile sports wagering or a state like New Jersey where there is far more sports wagering per capita.
- Are New Yorkers with compulsive gambling problems receiving proper treatment? That should be the principal issue of problem gambling. Are we effectively treating our endangered population? The numerical component of the endangered population is subject to different measurements. But whether it’s 1% or 4% of adult New Yorkers with significant gambling issues, that represents a remarkable number of New Yorkers. There are 15.86 million New Yorkers over 18 years old.[54] If 4% of New Yorkers need treatment, that is 634,000 people.[55] A 1% compulsive/pathological gambling rate is 158,000 people. Even if the need is only 0.07% of New Yorkers as suggested by the 2020 study, that represents 111,000 adult New Yorkers. Are they receiving the needed treatment? Are there enough clinicians and inpatient and outpatient facilities to meet their needs? Do we have any ideas?
The state comptroller in 2019 suggested that the state lacked the necessary treatment facilities.[56] Based on a subsequent response by the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the comptroller agreed that the office was meeting its audit recommendations.[57] Yet there have been recent reports that fewer people are seeking assistance from treatment centers.[58] Possibly due to the stigma associated with gambling, “problem gambling clinicians fear that those resources are going underused.”[59]
We do know that more people are calling into gambling helplines, but we don’t know whether this translates in any manner to meaningful treatment. Even if you are skeptical about an increase in problem gambling issues due to sports wagering, the number of New Yorkers who need treatment is in the hundreds of thousands. Are there facilities or practitioners in New York that can treat 100,000 people?
- With so much gambling already legalized in New York, the one major possible avenue for the increase is in the field of iGaming, which would generally be described as online gambling, including most casino games such as slot machines, craps, blackjack, roulette and baccarat. Six states in 2023 offered iGaming, and they all showed significant revenue growth.[60] iGaming increased in these six states by 22.8% compared to 2022. As of November 2024, iGaming in New Jersey was continuing to grow at an annual rate of 23.8%.[61] The difficulty in New York is that iGaming has largely been opposed by the labor unions that represent most of the workers in the state’s casinos and video lottery facilities.[62] Unless the labor unions are somehow guaranteed ironclad protections for their physical facilities, it would seem that iGaming is unlikely in New York in 2025.
It is more likely that any changes in New York gambling will come only at the margins. Existing licensed gambling corporations and gambling lobbyists will likely try to force state governments to take stronger stands against illegal gambling. There might be efforts to sue or formally ban offshore sportsbooks such as Bovada, likely the largest of the sportsbooks.[63] Similarly, they might wish to limit sweepstakes casinos, which utilize virtual currency to play casino-style games.[64] Legislative or executive action against offshore sportsbooks or sweepstakes casinos could help force bettors to bet with the established regulated gambling interests.
There has always been the potential for legalizing internet poker. Nonetheless, the popularity of internet poker has diminished since the early 2000s, and the New Jersey experience with internet poker has shown it not to be a significant source of revenue.[65]
Expanding the scope of sports wagering is another possibility. New York law prevents wagering high school sports and sports events in which New York colleges participate.[66] New York also has stricter limits on what are authorized proposition bets. It is possible that the Legislature could expand the scope of authorized sports betting events to include New York colleges and to expand the availability of proposition wagers.[67] Nonetheless, the expansion of sports wagering to include college wagering is not particularly popular,[68] and proposition wagering has been the subject of considerable negative publicity.[69] Unless some accommodations can be made to the labor unions, there will likely be very minimal wagering expansion in New York in the immediate future.
Nonetheless, the history of New York gambling over the past century is that gambling expansion is always in the cards. In 1925, the only quasi-legal gambling was oral (the bets could not be made on paper) bookmaking on track on horse racing, It would have been hard to envision that New York gambling would become a nearly $9.7 billion industry. Let’s hope that if there is any expansion of legalized gambling in New York, it comes with mechanisms to reduce the public health harms and damage caused by gambling addiction.
Bennett Liebman is a government lawyer in residence at the Government Law Center at Albany Law School and a member of the Executive Committee of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. An earlier version of this article was published in the EASL Journal. For more information, please visit NYSBA.ORG/EASL.
Endnotes:
[1] Mobile sports betting refers to online sports betting using smartphones tablets or computers.
[2] American Gaming Association, State of the States 2024 The AGA Analysis of the Commercial Casino Industry https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-2024.pdf.
[3] PML § 1352.
[4] PML §1367.8.
[5] PML § 1362.
[6] For historical purposes, the minimum betting age for quarter horse racing is 21. 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 4215.8. There has been no quarter horse racing in New York since the 1980s.
[7] This will likely change if and when Texas and California permit mobile sports betting.
[8] New York State Constitution, Article I, § 9.
[9] Now it would certainly be authorized the casino gambling exception.
[10] This amount does not include illegal gambling, whether it might be from unlicensed Internet bookmakers, traditional bookmakers, or from Internet or in-person poker games.
[11] Traditional lottery would consist of scratch-off games, jackpot games, and daily draw games.
[12] Vido lottery machines are in nine facilities across New York State. All but two of the facilities are at racetracks.
[13] These revenue amounts, except for revenue from Indian casinos, are derived from the 2023 annual report of the New York State Gaming Commission. https://gaming.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/08/annualreport_2023.pdf.
[14] The revenue for tribal casinos is based on the revenue estimated for the Fiscal Year 2024 contained in the Economic and Revenue Outlook for FY 2025 for the State Division of the Budget, https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy25/ex/ero/fy25ero.pdf. The state is to receive $234 million from its 25% share of slot machine revenues. Assuming that tribal casinos in New York have the same ratio of slot handle to total casino handle as New York’s commercial casinos, that leads to a revenue estimate of $1.25 billion. (Slot machines account for 70% of the handle at the state’s commercial casinos.).
[15] The pari-mutuel revenue for on-track wagering and New York State off-track betting corporations is set out in the 2023 Annual Report of the New York State Gaming Commission, The revenue from advance deposit wagering hubs is calculated by applying the takeout rate for on-track wagering to the handle of the advanced deposit wagering hubs. The handle for the advanced deposit wagering hubs is at https://gaming.ny.gov/horse-racing-reports.
[16] It Is likely that this number is significantly underreported. Many organizations conducting raffles, bingo games and bell jar tickets simply do not report their earnings and/or are operating without legal authority.
[17] While fantasy sports wagering may not be considered gambling in New York under White v. Cuomo, 38 N.Y.3d 209 (2022), it certainly be viewed as gambling adjacent.
[18] This can also be referred to as “revenue, win, adjusted gross proceeds, or any other variant.” UNLV Center for Gaming Research, United States Commercial Casino Gaming: Monthly Revenues, https://gaming.library.unlv.edu/reports/national_monthly.pdf. One of the “variants could be called “gaming consumer spend.” See American Gaming Association, State of the States, 2024 https://www.americangaming.org/resources/state-of-the-states-2024/.
[19] This would be the revenue from gambling received by the state or local government.
[20] Nevada Gaming Control Board, Monthly Revenue Report, December 2023, https://gaming.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/gamingnvgov/content/about/gaming-revenue/2023Dec-gri.pdf.
[21] National Indian Gaming Commission, NIGC, FY 2023, Gross Gaming Revenue Report, https://www.nigc.gov/images/uploads/reports/GGR23_Final.pdf. All of the California casinos are operated by tribes.
[22] American Gaming Association, supra note 13, at https://www.americangaming.org/state/california/.
[23] Illinois, besides having 15 casinos, has video gaming terminals in 8,464 establishments, including truck stops, fraternal organizations and on-premises liquor licenses.
[24] Upstate would be the counties in New York outside the city of New York, Long Island, and Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties. In toto, 52 counties north and west of the New York City metro area would constitute upstate New York. See PML § 1310.1.
[25] The downstate facilities are Resorts World at Aqueduct, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, and Suffolk OTB’s Jake’s 58 Casino.
[26] World Population Review, U.S. Counties, New York. https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-counties/new-york.
[27] See DGE Announces December 2023 Gaming Revenue Results, https://www.nj.gov/oag/ge/docs/Financials/PressRelease2023/December2023.pdf/. New Jersey’s population is 9.28 million. https://www.populationu.com/us/new-jersey-population/.
[28] See Annual and Cumulative Estimates of Resident Population Change for the United States, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-national-total.html.
[29] See Richard N. Velota, Chicago Moving Up Gambling Charts, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 21, 2024; ’Future Is Brighter Than Ever’: Strip Leads U.S. in Gaming Revenue Again, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Feb. 20, 2024; Aaron Elstein, Real Estate Titans Are Lining Up for the City’s Golden Ticket, Crain’s New York Business, Nov. 21, 2022; Nicole Hong, If New York City Gets Las Vegas-Style Casinos, What Else Will It Get?, New York Times, June 4, 2022. As the American Gaming Association stated, “Resorts World New York City in Queens regained its status as the most lucrative commercial casino property outside of Nevada in 2023. The casino reported total annual revenue of more than $942 million, earned exclusively through electronic gaming devices.” American Gaming Association, State of the States 2024: The Aga Analysis of the Commercial Casino Industry, https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AGA-State-of-the-States-2024.pdf.
[30] Of New York’s 62 cities, Schenectady ranks ninth and Niagara Falls 14th.
[31] New York, Chicago. Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and St. Louis. Los Angeles lacks a nearby full casino, but it does have several card rooms that bill themselves as casinos. Of the cities that ranked 11th to 20th in population in 1950, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Buffalo, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Kansas City, Mo. have casinos. There are also mini casinos in Seattle. leaving San Francisco, Minneapolis and Houston as the top 20 cities lacking a casino.
[32] Boston, which was the 10th largest city, has a casino across the Mystic River in the Charlestown section of Boston. The District of Columbia, the 19th largest city in 1950, has a casino in the adjacent area of National Harbor, Maryland.
[33] See Compstat data of the New York City Police Department, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-by-precinct-2000-2023.pdf and seven-major-felony-offenses-2000-2023.xls.
[34] The tax information on revenue from pari-mutuel racing is from the former Annual Statistical Review of Pari-Mutuel Tax Operations which was prepared by the State Department of Taxation and Finance.
[35] The amount can only be estimated because the Gaming Commission’s annual report does not have a breakdown of what percentage of bets placed on out-of-state races at OTBs were on harness racing. Nor are there any statistics on how much money was wagered on harness racing at advanced deposit wagering hubs.
[36] Xpressbet is operated by the Stronach Group.
[37] TwinSpires is operated by Churchill Downs.
[38] TVG is owned by FanDuel Group, a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment.
[39] Suffolk and Western OTBs operate video lottery facilities, and Nassau OTB receives revenue from the video lottery facilities at Resorts World At Aqueduct.
[40] PML § 1404.
[41] PML §1363.
[42] 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 5014.17.
[43] 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 5329.37.
[44] 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 5329.37.
[45] See Ch, 423, L. 2024.
[46] Shaffer HJ,. From Disabling to Enabling the Public Interest: Natural Transitions From Gambling Exposure to Adaptation and Self-Regulation, Addiction. Sep;100(9):1227, 1228 -1229 (2005). Thus, Shaffer could state that Nevada in 2005 with far more gambling opportunities than any other state did not show far more gambling-related problems. Id. at 1228. See also, LaPlante, D. A., & Shaffer, H. J., Understanding the Influence of Gambling Opportunities: Expanding Exposure Models To Include Adaptation, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 616–623 (2007).
[47] Hing, N., Rockloff, M. & Browne, M. Adoption, Adaptation or Exposure? Novel Digital Gambling Activities and Links with Gambling Problems, Curr Addict Rep, 10, 254–261 (2023).
[48] Expansion Of Gambling Does Not Lead to More Problem Gamblers, Study Finds, States News Service, Nov. 5, 2014.
[49] See note 47 supra.
[50] State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, 2020 OASAS Problem Gambling Prevalence Survey Summary, https://oasas.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/03/oasas_gambling_survey_2020.pdf. The full report is RTI International, 2020 New York State Problem Gambling Prevalence Study, Final Report, (March 4, 2021). The survey was based on pre-and post-pandemic behavior. The report took the position that during the time that NYPause, which closed many non-essential businesses, was in effect, there was little difference in gambling behavior between recreational and problem gamblers. Several other studies found that the social isolation caused by the pandemic might worsen problem gambling behavior due to significant increases in online gambling. See Anders Håkansson, Fernando Fernández-Aranda, Jose M. Menchón, Marc N. Potenza, Susana Jiménez-Murcia, Gambling During the COVID-19 Crisis – A Cause for Concern, J Addict Med, 2020 Jul/Aug;14(4); Daniel L. King, Paul H. Delfabbro, Joel Billieux, Marc N. Potenza, Problematic Online Gaming and the COVID-19 Pandemic, J Behav Addict, Apr 29;9(2).
[51] Don Gentile with Michael Finnegan New York Craps Out, Study Sez, New York Daily News, Aug. 2, 1996. See Rachel Volberg, Gambling and Problem Gambling in New York: A 10-Year Replication Survey, 1986 To 1996, July 9, 1996, “The lifetime prevalence rate in New York is higher than in any other state surveyed while the current prevalence rate is higher than in any other state surveyed except Louisiana.” https://prism.ucalgary.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/061978e1-be4e-4adc-857f-287bb753de52/content?form=MG0AV3.
[52] Id.
[53] Phones actually have been a tool of legal wagering in New York since 1970, when off-track betting corporations were first authorized to conduct wagering. Since 2006, the internet and in particular “wireless telephones” have been authorized for placing pari-mutuel wagers. Ch. 314, L. 2006. See PML §1012.17.
[54] New York Population by Age, Neilsberg Research, Feb. 22, 2025, https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/new-york-population-by-age/.
[55] This approximate 600,000 number was the number suggested by the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services in its 2006 prevalence survey. “Approximately 5 percent of adults, age 18 and older, have experienced problem gambling in the past year and may need treatment services. Thus, over 600,000 adults may need treatment for problem gambling.” OASAS, Gambling Behaviors and Problem Gambling Among Adults in New York State: Initial Findings from the 2006 OASAS Household Survey, 7, (2007).
[56] “Problem Gambling Treatment Program,” Office of the New York State Comptroller, February 5, 2019, https://www.osc.ny.gov/state-agencies/audits/2019/02/05/problem-gam’bling-treatment-program.
[57] Problem Gambling Treatment Program (Follow-Up), Office of the State Comptroller, May 7, 2020, https://www.osc.ny.gov/state-agencies/audits/2020/05/07/problem-gambling-treatment-program-follow.
[58] New York Clinicians Raise Alarms Over Decline in Gambling Addiction Treatment, IGaming org., Dec. 11, 2024. https://igaming.org/casino-news/new-york-clinicians-raise-alarms-over-decline-in-gambling-addiction-treatment/.
[59] Lucy Hodgman, Gambling Addiction Quietly Taking a Toll as Betting Apps Gain Popularity, Albany Times Union, Dec. 9, 2024.
[60] See AGA Report, supra at note 13.
[61] DGE Announces November 2024 Gaming Revenue Results, https://www.nj.gov/oag/ge/docs/Financials/PressRelease2024/November2024.pdf.
[62] Legislation introduced in New York in 2024 to authorize iGaming did not progress at all. See Senate Bill No. 81885-A by Member Addabbo, same as Assembly Bill No. 9158 by Member Pretlow (2024). Senator Addabbo has reintroduced this bill in 2025 as Senate Bill No. 2614.
[63] See The Center Square, Committee Discusses Illegal Gaming, Improving Casino Operations in Louisiana, New Orleans City Business, Dec. 16, 2024. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Gaming & Gambling Update – Week of November 4, 2024, JD Supra Blog, Nov. 11, 2024.
[64] American Gaming Association, Regulatory Vigilance Critical to Ensure ‘Sweepstakes’ Don’t Threaten Consumers and Undermine Gaming Regulation, https://gamblingcompliance.vixio.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/AGA%20Sweepstakes%20Memo%20(1).pdf. See also Daniel Wallach, Sweepstakes Casinos Face Long Legal Odds to Survive ‘Substance-Over-Form’ Court Scrutiny, Forbes, Jan. 4, 2025.
[65] Gross gaming revenue for internet poker in New Jersey in 2023 was $28.9 million. See note 22 supra.
[66] PML § 1367.1(s). New Yorkers can bet on collegiate tournaments.
[67] See Senate Bill No. 8777A by Member Addabbo, (2024) which passed the Senate in 2024 but was not acted on by the State Assembly. That bill authorized in-game and season-long proposition wagers as well as wagering on coin tosses.
[68] A constitutional amendment in New Jersey to authorize wagering on in-state colleges was voted down in n 2021. See Brent Johnson, N.J. Election 2021: Voters Reject College Sports Betting Expansion, Support More Bingo, NJ.com, Nov. 3, 2021.
[69] See Senate Judiciary Committee Issues Testimony from NCAA President Baker, Targeted News Service, Dec. 31, 2024.
