New York State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. says he has an answer for every question thrown his way about the potential legalization of online slots and table games.
Tax revenue? There will be plenty, and we need it. Jobs? They’ll be safe via the language of whatever bill gets passed. Cannibalization of brick-and-mortar casino business? Well, some people will always play online and others will always play in-person, but legislative language and cross-selling users between digital and analog can ensure that doesn’t happen either.
And Addabbo, chairman of the New York Senate’s Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, says it’s only a matter of time before New York legalizes online casino gambling, or iGaming.
“It's a question of not if but when,” Addabbo told Covers in an interview last week. “Eventually, iGaming will happen in New York, and we can't cry over the billions that we lost by not doing it in years past, but it's a question of when. When will we realize that, hey, we need to do this?”
If at first you don't succeed ...
Addabbo has been pushing in Albany for iGaming legalization in New York and introduced legislation this year and last to try to make it happen. He’s also put forward a bill this session that would crack down on online sweepstakes casinos already offering de facto iGaming in the state alongside offshore sites, something he sees as another argument for authorizing internet-based slots and table games.
However, the fact that New York hasn’t and likely won’t this year or maybe not next and perhaps even not the year after that is because Addabbo and other iGaming supporters are waiting for the governor’s office to bless the issue. And, so far, that blessing remains elusive.
“It has to be the governor who drives the bus,” Addabbo said. “I'm not very hopeful this session, because it can't just be me. I need the governor to engage, and she doesn't want to engage.”
But, if that ever does happen, it could be a happy day in the C-suites of major online gambling companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.
New York is already the largest competitive market for online sports betting in the U.S. From the week that ended March 31, 2024, to the week that ended March 2, 2025, mobile sports betting in New York generated more than $1 billion in tax revenue for the state.
A launch of legal iGaming could be a golden opportunity for operators, but potentially provide the state itself with a significant injection of new revenue, according to Addabbo.
“Those numbers from iGaming will eclipse mobile sports betting numbers in New York because the population [of potential iGaming users] is that much greater,” Addabbo said. “And if you do it in a very safe, responsible way, it will be one of the safest products in the country.”
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said earlier this month that they feel like they have “some real momentum” for iGaming legalization now compared to previous years. Whether that momentum will begin to build in New York remains to be seen. However, there are a few factors that Addabbo and others believe could start to work in their favor.
Here comes the cash crunch
One is the federal government in Washington, D.C. The administration of President Donald Trump could choose to be less charitable to states that find themselves in a fiscal bind.
“The new administration is going to be good for iGaming,” said Shawn Fluharty, the head of government affairs for iGaming supplier Play'n GO and a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, during this week’s NEXT summit in New York. “And why? Because they’re squeezing the states.”
With that squeezing going on, state lawmakers will need to find new sources of revenue. And raising taxes or imposing new taxes, Fluharty noted, can cost lawmakers elections. That leaves iGaming as a potential alternative, he suggested, something you can “plug and play” and start raising revenue from in a relatively short time.
Here's an idea: iGaming
New York is also one of those states that could be feeling a financial pinch.
Addabbo said they are facing a $3-billion budget deficit next year and a roughly $6-billion shortfall the year after. The senator also claims the state is losing about $1 billion annually in potential iGaming revenue to other states, such as Connecticut and New Jersey, in addition to however much is lost to offshore sites or sweeps.
“If we do iGaming now, we have a shot at gaining sustainable, significant revenue … to address that shortfall,” Addabbo told Covers. “But you’ve got to do it this year, because it's not a light switch.”
Addabbo said any state that authorized some form of gambling had a governor who perhaps not only wanted to do it, but needed to do it for fiscal reasons.
“If Medicaid costs are going up, or you're facing Medicaid cuts in the federal government down in Washington, well, I’ve got an idea, you can use some of that gaming money to offset those cuts,” Addabbo said.
Notable New York gaming bills introduced this week:
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) January 22, 2025
- iCasino & iLoto authorization
- Permit season-long prop bets and futures
- Prohibit parimutuel horse race betting for those under 21
- Regulate prop-based DFS platforms
- Allow lottery winners to remain anonymous
Another factor that could work to the benefit of pro-iGaming legislators is the ongoing availability of offshore sportsbooks and casinos, as well as the emergence of sweepstakes casinos and sportsbooks.
Addabbo’s recently introduced Senate Bill 5935 takes aim at the latter entities, by proposing to prohibit the operation, support, and advertising of sweepstakes casinos in New York.
The senator said sweeps hit his radar amid the ongoing debate over iGaming legalization, and that his budget presentation to his fellow lawmakers included screenshots of colorful sites that he claims pose a “danger” to minors and constituents.
“The guardrails and the safeguards that we painstakingly take efforts to do when we do mobile sports or iGaming are not there with most of these sweepstakes casino sites,” Addabbo said.
Sweeps have also caught the eye of the New York State Gaming Commission, the chairman of which said in January that staff had already made several referrals to law enforcement. Addabbo said that while legislation is one way of addressing the sweeps concerns, the gaming commission and attorney general’s office is another.
“So now it's on the radar of the legislature, the attorney general's office and the governor's administration through the Gaming Commission,” Addabbo said. “So hopefully we do something.”
