New York lawmakers are working on ways to further protect local bettors from the possible negative effects of gambling. Last week, two legislators introduced a bill, which would require all gambling and sports betting advertisements within the state to feature warnings about the potential harm and effects that gambling could bring to a gambler.
This bill comes in relation to the widely popular online gambling in the state, as a year ago, the Empire State premiered its mobile sports betting market. In addition to it, lawmakers also want to legalize online casino games, which will only make gambling much more accessible to local bettors. Thus, enabling concerns about the potential rise of problem gambling among residents.
Bill S1550
The bill was introduced by democrats Luis R. Sepúlveda and Leroy Comrie on Thursday, January 12, 2023. Titled Senate Bill S1550, which would require all gambling and sports betting commercials in the state to include warnings about a possible negative effect. It would also require all advertisements to feature the New York problem gambling hotline number 1-877-8-HOPENY.
It should be mentioned that the legislation is yet to go through a vote, and if passed it would take 16 days to become law. Ohio which recently debuted its iGaming market, implemented similar protocols, as it requires gambling ads to be clearly and conspicuously labelled with the helpline number as well as a problem gambling message.
Problem gambling has been a topic of major concern in the Empire State over the last few months. In December, New York state Sen. Pete Harckham came up with legislation to regulate predatory mobile sportsbook bonuses. His bill was closely followed by a series of articles in The New York Times which criticized the marketing activities of sports betting brands in the state.
In light of those events, the State. Sen. Joe Addabbo, who chairs the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee, noted that after the bill on predatory bonuses, called together Mr.Harckham, Assembly Racing and Wagering Chairman J. Gary Pretlow, members of the New York State Gaming Commission. It is believed that they discussed possible changes in the rules regarding bonuses.
Celebrating One Year of Mobile Sports Betting
At the start of the month, New York marked one year since the official introduction of online sports betting in the state. For its first year, the state accumulated an online betting handle of US$16.2 billion. These numbers broke the previous year’s high in the country, which was set by the neighbouring New Jersey with US$10.9 billion in 2021.
Last year, the state reported US$1.36 billion in gross gaming revenue, yet another record in the country. It should be noted that after tax, the US$1.36 billion in GGR translated to yet another record. This time of all-time tax revenue for a state in a year, with US$693 million. This exceeded the initial expectations of US$500 million for the first year.
