Online gaming not included in New York FY25 budget

For those encouraged by New York state senator Joseph Addabbo’s filing of a revised igaming bill last week, the exclusion of igaming from the budget spells trouble.

Addabbo’s new bill – Senate Bill S8185 – builds upon his previous attempt to introduce online gaming in the Empire state. But this comes with one key difference – the inclusion of ilottery.

Hochul’s budget for 2025 totals $233bn (£184.20bn/€214.43bn), an estimated $1bn increase on the previous year. She said this will be achieved without raising income taxes.

But while igaming did not form part of the New York budget, Hochul did insert a provision to extend a number of pari-mutuel, racing, wagering and breeding law provisions that were about to expire. The extension accounts for a period of one year.

“In for a fight”

For Brendan Bussmann, managing partner at B Global Advisors, the choice to exclude igaming from the budget delivers a critical blow to the future of online casino. In his own words: “We’re in for a fight.”

To analyse what igaming could bring to New York, he looks at the state’s current sports betting market, which consistently brings in high revenue for the state. And no wonder – sports betting tax is set at 51%. Comparably, Addabbo’s latest bill proposes a tax of 31.5% on gross gaming revenue from igaming.

“Sports betting has generated a ton of revenue,” he says. “But when you’re taxing 50% of revenue it should be. It’s one of most populous states. When you get half of all dollars, that’ll be a big number.

“New York is surrounded by sports betting. They’ve got it in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey – everyone wants to be in NYC because you’ve got a high amount of people. You want to be there.”