The New York State Senate has referred Bill A9343 to the Committee on Racing and Wagering, potentially eliminating the ability for commercial and online sportsbooks to accept in-game or live wagers from Empire State bettors.
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced the legislation on December 10, prohibiting both live wagering and microbetting across the state following recent scandals witnessed in the MLB and NBA.
New Jersey lawmakers have also proposed legislation which could eliminate microbetting offerings to consumers, but has yet to extend such restrictions to live wagering. Bill A9343 would prohibit all commercial and online sportsbooks from accepting wagers in New York once a respective sporting event has begun.
On November 9, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged for their alleged roles in a gambling scheme focused on whether individual pitches would be thrown for balls or strikes as well as the over/under for speed of certain pitches.
Once the scandal was unveiled, New Jersey Assemblyman Dan Hutchinson introduced new legislation to ban microbetting in July, followed by a companion bill in the state Senate brought forth on October 27.
"The pace at which sporting events are played, and therefore the pace at which micro bets can be placed, limits the ability of bettors to research and consider their wagers before placing them and enables bettors to place a higher volume of wagers in a shorter amount of time, contributing to excessive and irresponsible gambling," the companion bill states.
On October 23, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 31 individuals connected to alleged betting scandals and rigged poker games, including current NBA player Terry Rozier, coach Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones.
Rozier would allegedly exit games early due to injury to fall below his over/under totals on respective sportsbooks, while Jones is accused of sharing information related to player injury reports with a network of conspirators.
No action has been taken since Bill A9343 was referred to the Committee on Racing and Wagering in New York, but the legislation would go into immediate effect upon approval.
The MLB and sportsbooks such as FanDuel and DraftKings agreed to implement a nationwide $200 betting limit on wagers related to individual pitches following the charges filed against Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz
