New Yorkers can finally stay home and place their sports bets instead of heading to New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Connecticut.

Beginning Saturday at 9 a.m., mobile online sports betting can launch in New York with four operators: Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings NY, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive, the parent company of BetRivers. All four have indicated they would go live Saturday.

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) made the announcement Thursday that the four licensed mobile sports wagering operators met regulatory requirements and can launch Saturday.

There are five other mobile operators (BetMGM NY, Bally Bet, WynnBET NY, Resorts World and PointsBet) continuing to work toward approval to launch. They will be able to go live on a rolling basis when requirements are met, according to the NYSGC.

Saturday will be a big day for bettors because the only previous legal options to place bets in the state of New York had been the four upstate retail casinos: Rivers Casino in Schenectady, Del Lago in Waterloo, Resorts World Catskills in Monticello and Tioga Downs in Nichols.

The other legal option was to cross state lines and place wagers in New Jersey – the top sports betting state in the country by handle – Connecticut, which launched online and retail sports betting in October, or Pennsylvania.

It’s estimated that 20% of New Jersey’s monthly sports betting handle comes from New Yorkers. According to Geocomply, New Yorkers also took advantage of Connecticut having online sports betting.

New Jersey and Connecticut also offer real money online casinos.

Starting Before NFL Playoffs

Key New York lawmakers, including state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, have been pushing for New York to launch online sports betting before the Super Bowl on Feb. 13. That goal will be reached and the market will be live even before the NFL Playoffs begin on Jan. 15.

“Today’s announcement by the New York State Gaming Commission that four of the nine licensed Mobile Sports Wagering Operators have been approved to begin operations starting on Saturday, January 8, 2022, is great news for New York in terms of revenue, new funding for education, addiction programs and youth sports, as well as new jobs,” Addabbo said in a news release. “I want to thank the Gaming Commission for their efficiency in ensuring that these operators met all of the requirements to bring their mobile sports betting product to the people of New York ahead of the NFL playoffs.

”I look forward to the other five operators satisfying the statutory and regulatory requirements necessary to launch in the near future and working with the (Gov. Kathy) Hochul administration and Gaming Commission.”

About the NY Sportsbooks Launching

The four sportsbooks that will be launching Saturday aren’t a huge surprise. They are national operators live in numerous states:

• Caesars Sportsbook operates in 20 states, including 14 that already have mobile betting.
• DraftKings enters its largest market to date since launching in 2012. It has online or retail operations in 17 states. It also operates a retail sportsbook in upstate New York at Del Lago Casino & Resort in Waterloo.
• FanDuel also operates a retail sportsbook in upstate New York at Tioga Downs Casino in Nichols. Both Tioga Downs and The Meadowlands in New Jersey are owned and operated by Jeff Gural. On Thursday, just after the announcement by the state, the Buffalo Bills announced a multi-year partnership with FanDuel, designating FanDuel as an official mobile sports betting partner.
• New York will be the 12th state for BetRivers. Rush Street, parent of BetRivers, operates the sportsbook at Rivers Casino in Schenectady.

A Long Road to Online Sports Betting

After years of fighting against online sports betting, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo unexpectedly changed his stance in January 2021 at a news conference, saying he was ready to allow mobile sports betting in the state. Cuomo officially signed mobile sports betting into law when he finalized the state budget in April 2021.

In November, New York selected the nine sportsbook operators and providers to bring online sports betting to the state. The sportsbooks will pay a 51% tax rate, tied for highest in the U.S. market with New Hampshire.

But New York will be the largest state with legal online sports betting when it goes live Saturday. For a variety of reasons, it will be some time before California, Texas and Florida go live with online sports betting.