Welcome to the wonderful world of mobile betting, New York!
The Empire State will launch mobile sports wagering activity on Saturday Jan. 8 at 9 a.m. ET, which means bets can placed in time for NFL Week 18 and Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama. A big push was made to go live before the NFL Playoffs and that goal has been reached.
The four operators approved by the New York State Gaming Commission are DraftKings, Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers), FanDuel and Caesars. Those operators should be ready to flip the switch and go live at that time, but the Jan. 6 announcement simply allows them to start taking mobile wagers anytime after Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
There are five other companies – Bally Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, Resorts World and WynnBET - that are conditionally licensed to accept mobile wagers, but still have requirements to meet before they can go live.
Sports betting has actually taken place in New York since July 2019, but had been restricted to retail, in-person wagering only. Legislators approved online and mobile sports betting in April 2021. As recently as last week, Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. hinted that online and mobile betting should launch in mid-January, but the launch has come earlier than expected.
With Saturday’s launch, New York will become the 12th state with full mobile betting, remote registration and multiple sportsbook options.