: New York to begin allowing mobile sports betting for the first time on Jan. 8

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Mobile sports wagering will officially begin in New York state on Jan. 8.

The New York State Gaming Commission announced that Caesars
CZR,
+3.22%

Sportsbook, DraftKings
DKNG,
+3.16%
,
FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive
RSI,
+1.79%

have fulfilled all regulatory requirements to proceed with mobile sports betting and iGaming in the state to begin accepting wagers.

“The NYS Gaming Commission announced today that four licensed Mobile Sports Wagering Operators – Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive – have satisfied all statutory and regulatory requirements necessary to accept and process mobile sports wagering activity and have been approved to commence operations with launch effective no earlier than Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time,” the commission wrote in a statement.

Last November, the commission approved 9 sports betting operators to eventually offer mobile sports wagering in New York, but the remaining sportsbooks, including Bally Sports
BALY,
+1.78%

and BetMGM
MGM,
+2.93%
,
are apparently not ready yet.

“The remaining five conditionally licensed Mobile Sports Wagering Operators continue to work towards satisfying statutory and regulatory requirements necessary to launch and will be approved on a rolling basis when requirements are met,” the New York Gaming Commission continued.

In April 2020, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a budget for fiscal-year 2022 that included legal online wagering, paving the way for legal mobile betting in New York.

In New Jersey, one of the states with the biggest sports-betting markets, about 90% of all bets are placed online. A recent report indicated about 20% of New Jersey sports wagering comes from New York City.

New Jersey has rivaled sports betting giant Nevada — home of Las Vegas — in total sports betting handle in recent years.

“New York will be a fascinating test case for just how much states can tax sports betting without damaging the future of the industry,” Dustin Gouker, lead betting analyst for PlayUSA told MarketWatch in an email. “Launching with four of the best-known sportsbook brands in the U.S. shows that operators have not been dissuaded so far. And there is no doubt New Yorkers will respond in huge numbers, so long as operators can offer competitive products that sufficiently desensitize crossing state lines to place a bet.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, New York State has over 20 million people living in it, by far the most populous state that is accepting legal mobile sports wagering.