Calling for responsible growth as downstate gears up for new casinos

Two lawmakers leading the charge on expansion of casino licensing in New York took the stage at City and State’s inaugural “Trailblazers in Casinos and Sports Betting” event, just days before formal applications were due for three new downstate casino licenses.

State Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. and Assembly Member Carrie Woerner, members of the governor’s committee on racing, gaming and wagering and staunch advocates of the city’s iGaming and brick and mortar gambling industries, both were keynote speakers at the event held at HK Hall in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood Wednesday evening. 

“We are leading the nation in the gaming and wagering space,” Woerner told attendees. “We sort of lead the vice caucus. So maybe it's not so great to say that we're leading in this space, but we're leading in this space.” 

Last month, New York state saw $100 million in revenue from mobile sports betting, adding up to over $1 billion annually. Along with horse racing and other betting outlets, mobile sports betting has contributed to the state’s $5 billion gaming industry, funds which according to Sen. Addabbo, aims to go towards education. 

“What we have done is make New York state the number one economic gaming growth state in the country and globally,” said Addabbo in his keynote address. “We are on the cusp of three licenses, which means thousands upon thousands of construction union jobs, and then thousands upon thousands of post-construction jobs. And it's not about just the jobs, it's about the revenue that goes to education.” 

With nearly $12 million invested across the state towards “problem gaming” initiatives targeting abuses in mobile sports betting, regulation proponents hope that stricter measures will curb gambling addiction and collect state dollars lost to fraudulent sites. 

“For those who really want to take a step forward, I gotta say, take the damn blinders off,” said Addabbo. “New York is a growth market for gaming. If you really want to help someone with an addiction, let's regulate gaming in New York. Because right now, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, they're taking our money, and there's a very robust illegal market that's growing. We lose about a billion dollars to other states in the illegal market, and we can't help our people who may have an addiction.” 

Recently, state lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting illegal sweepstake casinos which often target minors. Lawmakers are also hoping to implement greater verification measures and digital guardrails to detect early signs of gambling addictions. 

On the technological side of wagering, Woerner cautioned its possibilities. 

“Technology is going to be the driver of the next wave, but if we don't figure out how to put guardrails around artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are going to end up creating a set of social harms that far outpace the amount of problem gaming revenue that we can put aside,” said Woerner. 

As online betting inevitably lowers barriers of entry into gambling, Woerner urged lawmakers and gaming executives – many of whom are waiting to see who among several casino operators will file formal applications for three downstate licenses on Friday – to ensure that digital betting outlets are used responsibly. 

“I think this is the challenge for all of us, to think about how to use these technologies in a responsible way to enhance the customer experience without creating addictions,” said Woerner. “If technology can put you out of business, it can eat into your market, because the illegal markets are so easy to get into. That's going to be a problem for all of us.”