The last state to approve iGaming was Connecticut, and that took place 18 months ago. Besides Connecticut, other states that allow online casino gaming are Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.<\/p>\n
New York isn\u2019t the only state where iGaming legislation has been filed this year. Lawmakers in Indiana and Illinois also filed bills, but Indiana\u2019s iGaming measures are already dead after missing deadlines to be heard in either the state House or Senate. And none of the three iGaming bills filed by Illinois legislators have gained much traction.<\/p>\n
Howard Glaser, the global head of government affairs for Light & Wonder, said the issue that has stymied iGaming\u2019s acceptance in Illinois, Indiana, and even Iowa, is internal conflict within the gaming industry in those states.<\/p>\n
\nThere’s no legislative opposition in any of those states,\u201d Glaser told Casino.org<\/em> in an interview Friday. \u201cThere’s no legislative opposition to iGaming. The opposition is all driven in the statehouses by lawmakers saying to the industry, \u2018Until you guys agree on what this looks like, we’re not going to pass anything. Otherwise, we’re going to be making somebody very unhappy in our state.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nWhat\u2019s also impacting passage in most states, Glaser said, is that those states don’t have the revenue needs for the time being, an issue that usually serves as a driver for gaming expansion. So this is more a time to educate lawmakers in potential iGaming states so that when the need for more revenue comes up, those legislators will be ready to support legalization.<\/p>\n
New York: Fatigue or Momentum?<\/h2>\n Glaser said the opposition in New York differs from the Midwest states where iGaming has been considered. There, the response is \u201cit\u2019s too much, too fast,\u201d especially after the state approved online sports betting two years ago and expedited the casino process by a year. All three new casinos are expected to be awarded to downstate locations.<\/p>\n
\nYou cannot underestimate how much oxygen the expansion of the casinos in New York City takes up in the political process,\u201d he added. \u201cEven though the legislature is now not directly involved, it still is a very political process. So, you have a lot of attention being drawn to that, and I think, a little bit of concern that lawmakers don’t want to overwhelm the public with another gaming discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
There are also some concerns being raised by unions, which are worried about iGaming apps eating away at the business of the new casinos, which will be built with union labor and staffed by union workers.<\/p>\n
Still, given the state’s dire fiscal outlook, Glaser thinks New York will eventually approve iGaming, possibly even next year.<\/p>\n
While Glaser admittedly sees some gaming fatigue in New York this year, Addabbo uses another word to describe the situation. Momentum.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIf mobile sports betting<\/a> wasn’t doing so well, I would say there’s no appetite for (iGaming) in New York,\u201d\u00a0the senator said. \u201cBut, when you have the number one product in the country in mobile sports betting, and globally now, New York is perceived as a gaming expansion state. You use that momentum, in my opinion, you use that momentum, and you build on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The next few days should determine whether iGaming has a chance in the New York Legislature this year. That\u2019s according to comments state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens, made to Casino.org last week. This week, the legislative chambers are expected to produce their versions of the 2023-24 budget. If neither the Assembly nor the Senate includes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":263929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20,61],"tags":[85443,81871,85095,85442,34],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Addabbo Hopeful for iGaming in New York as Bills Stall in Midwest<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n