ALBANY, N.Y. — The clock is ticking in Albany on some major issues, one of them, whether to legalize sports betting. The legislative session ends in six weeks.
Sports betting was the focus of a hearing Wednesday.
There were officials from the NBA, the PGA Tour, and the NFL Players Association. Also, testimony from those on the gambling side, such as casino officials and the CEO of FanDuel spoke.
The hearing was before the state Senate's Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering.
A bill has been proposed in the Senate to legalize sports gambling and that would include mobile betting.
Casinos would pay an 8.5 percent state tax on in-person sports wagering revenue and a 12 percent tax for online revenue.
There would be a $12 million fee to get a license.
Consumer advocates have deep concerns over mobile betting, which they believe could be highly addictive.
"We have no idea how many people may become addicted or not," said James Maney, the executive director of the New York Council on Problem Gambling. "We have to make sure we do everything in our ability to address this issue of prevention because we don't know where it's going to go."
"It's my hope that after hearing from everybody today [Wednesday] we're able to recognize the direction the legislature has to move on in terms of mobile sports betting so that we can get it right," said State Senator Daphne Jordan, who represents the Albany area.
One consumer protection discussed is drivers license verification on mobile bets.
The NBA says that there need to be restrictions on insiders such as players and coaches, betting on their own sports.
The Senecas have said they're not sure if they'll pursue sports gambling and that they're going to see if it's feasible.