March Madness is here, and it’s a great year to be a New York hoops fan.
The St. John’s Red Storm earned the coveted number two seed in the NCAA tournament and crushed the Omaha Mavericks in their first game on Thursday. The Columbia Lions also beat the Washington Huskies to advance in the women’s tournament.
But New Yorkers hoping to capitalize on the college athletes’ success won’t be so lucky. State law bans bets on local college teams. And that’s not the only rule.
As one of the busiest seasons for sports betting heats up, here’s what you should know:
Sports betting is legal in New York.
The state Legislature passed a bill in 2013 that opened the door for “sports wagering” in New York — if federal law allowed it. Since the 1990s, the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act had restricted states' abilities to operate, promote or authorize betting on most athletic competitions. But in 2018, the United States Supreme Court struck down the law in response to a lawsuit from New Jersey’s governor.
In 2021, New York lawmakers expanded athletic gambling to include online sports betting. Now, according to the Gaming Commission, New Yorkers can place bets on their phones through these licensed operators:
- Bally Bet
- Bet MGM
- Caesars Sportsbook
- DraftKings Sportsbook
- ESPN Bet
- Fanatics Sportsbook
- FanDuel Sportsbook
- Resorts World Bet
- Rush Street Interactive
Not everyone can bet on sports, though. State law prohibits wagers from a handful of groups, including people under 21 and high-ranking employees of casinos and sports betting companies. Athletes are also barred from betting on their own competitions.
You can’t bet on the hometown teams.
It’s illegal under state law to bet on college and high school athletic events involving New York teams. There is an exception for collegiate tournaments like March Madness. But New Yorkers can’t bet on individual games in which a New York college team is participating, even if the game is played outside the state.
That means New Yorkers can place wagers on other teams in the NCAA tournament, but not on St. John’s in the men’s competition or Columbia in the women’s. Gaming Commission Chair Brian O’Dwyer said in an interview that the goal of the law is twofold: to bolster the integrity of the betting and to protect amateur college athletes from the wrath of disappointed gamblers. He said the commission also doesn’t allow proposition bets in college sports — wagers on individual players or occurrences within a game — so angry bettors won’t harass student athletes.
Most of the proceeds support schools.
Mobile sports betting has garnered billions of dollars in revenue in recent years. That revenue is taxed at a whopping 51%, according to the Gaming Commission, and nearly all the funds go to public schools across New York State. There are two carveouts: $5 million goes each year to athletic programs for underserved youth and $6 million goes to education and treatment for gambling addiction.
In 2023, the last year for which annual data is available, people wagered more than $19 billion on mobile sports betting in New York, bringing in more than $862 million in tax revenue.
Just last month, mobile sports betting brought in more than $94 million in net revenue for New York schools, according to a monthly report from the gaming commission. In January, the number was even higher: almost $150 million.
There are resources available if you’re experiencing gambling addiction.
While sports betting has become hugely popular across the United States, it also poses serious risks. Gambling addiction affects millions of Americans, and the advent of mobile sports betting has made it easier than ever for people to get swept up in a hobby that can become unhealthy.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law last fall that requires all advertisements for gambling and sports betting in the state to mention the possible harms and risks of addiction. Ads must also include a gambling hotline number.
O’Dwyer said the gaming commission is also meeting with Internet providers to find ways to ensure that people gamble responsibly. But he said there’s much more to be done to prevent problem gambling, including research. He said he has “great concerns about the people who bet.”
“ We haven't come close to understanding the problem of irresponsible, problem gambling,” he said. “We're on the first steps — and frankly, on the first steps — of trying to figure out how best to handle that.”
New Yorkers can visit NYProblemGamblingHelp.org or reach the state’s confidential hotline by calling 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or texting HOPENY (467369).
