Tuesday, March 26

New York wants to take advantage of the Super Bowl to raise $ 500 million in sports betting “online”


New York City wants to use the most watched sporting event to help its economy.

New York City wants to use the most watched sporting event to help its economy.

Foto:
Kevin C. Cox/ Archivo / Getty Images

With the intention of taking advantage of the pull of the Super Bowl, New York gave the green light to the controversial online sports betting business, to those offered by the largest market in the United States to date, with the hope of contributing up to $ 500 million a year to a state coffers drained by the pandemic.

The “Empire State”, with almost 20 million residents, is placed at the forefront of a score of states in which It is legal to bet from the cell phone who will win the game of the night, ahead of neighboring New Jersey, where many New Yorkers have crossed since it became a trailblazer in 2018.

In that year, the US Supreme Court lifted the veto that limited gambling only to Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, known as “the city of vice”, and since then at least sixteen states have legalized them.

In New York, the authorized operators – Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetRivers, to which five others will join – pay a 51% tax rate on their gross billing to New York for the next 10 years, a high toll with which the state aims to raise almost 500 million in 2025, a figure that experts consider unrealistic.

Zack Hall, spokesman for the specialized site PlayNY.com, told EFE that This estimate is “very optimistic, but not impossible,” given the “unique structure” of the New York model, while the analysts of Regulus Partners consider that it is based on “unreliable assumptions about the gross turnover of the game (gaming)”.

“Tax revenue is the crown jewel for any state that legalizes sports betting. New York has been idle for years as New Jersey became the largest market in the US. “Hall pointed out, noting that the latter raises 10 million a month with a lower rate of 14%.

A major source of income for New York

New York seems to trust its new revenue source, as according to the budget analysis published by the state auditor, Thomas DiNapoli, ‘online’ sports betting is the section that will contribute the most money in 2025 second only to personal income taxes, and followed by recreational use of cannabis.

After months of pandemic that have left a budget deficit, the green light for this sector was given in April of last year by former Governor Andrew Cuomo, disgraced by a sexual harassment scandal, and the legislators’ idea was for it to open in time for the Super Bowl on February 13.

The Super Bowl, the most popular sporting event in the United States, brings Americans together in front of television to watch the ball passes – in addition to the most sought-after commercials of the year and the halftime “show” – so After a high-volume first weekend in New York, expectations are high.

According to GeoComply, a geolocation company, the four active digital bookmakers made the state a leader in the country just twelve hours after its premiere, and the volume of trades and logins accumulated through Sunday night was “legendary”, with 17 million “pings”.

The bets began to flow from minute one and also the publicity, with television ads or on social networks by the hand of sports “ambassadors” such as the Manning family, in addition to promotions: “Risk-free bet up to $ 1,000 dollars”, “ $ 300 free when you sign up ”, “Bonus of up to $ 1,000 dollars for your deposit”.

Gambling addiction, in small print

In small print come the notices about “Gambling problems” especially hanging over adolescents, war veterans, older adults and the Latino and Asian communities, according to the New York Council on Problem Gambling (NYCPG), funded by the state office for Addiction Services and Support.

To compare figures, that office budgeted in the 2019-2020 fiscal year – when sports bets were allowed for the first time in state casinos – about $ 5.7 million for addiction prevention, treatment and recovery expenses.

Amanda Quintana, a program manager at one of the NYCPG centers in the Hudson region, told EFE, “Concern” for young people, whom he considered that the operators and their technologies were “targeting”, and anticipated a greater demand for treatments, which will require “adequate funding.”

Most of the proceeds from bets (80%) It will be used for elementary and secondary education and to alleviate the tax burden on homeowners, while the first year 1% will go to treatment and awareness about gambling addictions, and another 1% to sports educational programs.

Read also:
– Controversy at LIDOM: Player received money from a gambling fanatic and was reprimanded [VIDEO]
– Sports betting with the phone for the first time in New York since this weekend: estimated $ 10 billion annually


eldiariony.com

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