The legality of sports gambling in the state of New York has been an ongoing debate that doesn’t look like it’s going to go away anytime soon. The NFL, of course, is one of the leagues that would be affected by the decision, regardless of what the final outcome on the issue is.
Because of this, the NFL teams in the state of New York have gotten involved in the conversation in recent days. Both the Jets and the Giants, as well as the Buffalo Bills, shared in creating the letter, which is titled “NFL Letter Regarding Sports Betting in New York State.” You can read the entire thing here, but the core idea of the letter was expressed in four points that the teams would like the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gambling, and Wagering to consider.
The first is a legal and regulated betting environment with protections for the consumer, the second is protection for each team’s intellectual property, the third is fan access to official league data, and the final one is adequate resources for law enforcement to eliminate illegal sports betting.
This Monday, the committee voted to advance an online and mobile sports betting bill. This is what the summary of the bill has to say about its contents and effects:
Provides for regulation of sports betting and mobile sports wagering; defines terms; implements a tax equivalent to eight and one-half percent of sports wagering gross revenue; requires reportingÂ
Perhaps the most obvious effect that this bill would have is allowing FanDuel and DraftKings, and other similar daily fantasy football sites to operate in New York.
It could be a good thing for Giants fans. We don’t know how the 2019 season will go yet, but if it starts anything like last year’s first half, winning in daily fantasy just might be a good distraction from the on the field results.