Addabbo Seemingly Not Optimistic That New York iGaming Will Happen This Year

We’re less than two months into 2026, and already online casino legalization progress has surpassed most observers’ expectations for the full year. Maine unexpectedly crossed the finish line in January, and in February, both Virginia chambers passed bills, setting up intrigue for the remainder of the session.

Maine, with a population of about 1.4 million, is small potatoes. Virginia, at about 8.9 million residents, would be medium potatoes. You want a state with a serious possibility of legalizing iGaming that qualifies as a massive serving of spuds? That can only be New York — population 20 million, the dream state for any iCasino operator.

The Empire State does have bills in the pipeline. There’s A 6027, sponsored by Carrie Woerner in the Assembly, and there’s S 2614, sponsored by Joseph Addabbo Jr. in the Senate.

And while there’s still plenty of time to get something done this year, Addabbo — the Senate Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee chair — was not exactly brimming with confidence for 2026 in his appearance on Casino Reports’ podcast Low Rollers last week.

“Well, you know, it’s a challenge,” Addabbo responded when asked, now that New York’s land-based casino licensing process is complete and the decks are theoretically cleared for iCasino, what his level of optimism is. “I enter every budget season, like we just have embarked on, with a sense of optimism. But it can’t just be me. It has to be the governor who has to buy into it, our leaders in the Assembly and Senate, and then the union. … Right now [the union is] opposed to it because they think it cannibalizes brick-and-mortar. I don’t think it does.”

Addabbo’s talking points

The cannibalization argument is just one of several Addabbo has to combat. He knows he has his work cut out for him, but he has his talking points in order.

It starts with the tax revenue New York badly needs and is currently letting flow elsewhere.

“We lose to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and a very robust illegal market online, which is very concerning to me. … Every year we lose about a billion dollars out of New York to these other entities, the other sites,” he said. “We’re looking at not only this [year’s] budget, but I always look at the next year’s budget. And next year we have a huge deficit, and God knows what happens down in Washington with cuts. So … you would do iGaming this year to recognize the revenue for next year, because it’s not going to be immediate.”

Responsible gambling is another key component of Addabbo’s campaign, as he believes regulating the industry helps with problem gambling.

“We’ve put certain measures and safety protocols and guardrails in the language of the budget,” Addabbo said, specifically addressing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s stated concerns about underage New Yorkers gambling online. “We regulated mobile sports betting. Therefore, you know who the minors are. You can actually help them. For the minors who are doing online poker, you cannot help them … because you have not regulated it. You have no idea who they are. To the [people] spending all their life savings, gambling it away online, the mortgage payment, the rent payment, you want to help them, too — you can’t, because you have not regulated online gaming. You have no data. They’re doing it illegally online. You have no idea. They’re in the shadows.”

As for cannibalization concerns from land-based operators and labor unions, Addabbo believes those parties have it all wrong.

“I know where we can grow gaming in a very responsible, safe manner, and protect jobs and add jobs. The iGaming brings about 2,000 new union jobs, because the stagehands and the online dealers have to be in New York, and they have to be union members,” Addabbo said, referring to live-dealer studios used by many online casino operators. “We could protect the current brick-and-mortar numbers, members, workers. We could do that, but it takes a conversation. It all starts with a conversation.”

What does the governor think?

Addabbo was asked twice during the podcast if he knows whether Hochul supports iGaming as a concept and would sign a bill if it reached her desk, and the most he would offer was, “It’s been quiet.”

Before the governor makes a decision, there are others who need to be convinced first anyway.

“I’ll talk to my colleagues. My colleagues in the Senate are very apprehensive about expanding gaming in New York,” Addabbo acknowledged.

Still, bigger picture, Addabbo is an optimist about his state adding online casino gaming — eventually.

“It’s not a question of if, but when, for mobile, for iGaming in New York,” Addabbo said.

And he believes the success of online sports betting in the state — which generated more than $1.3 billion in tax revenue in 2025, tops in the nation — is a powerful card he can play.

“If mobile sports betting wasn’t successful, I could not think about iGaming,” he said. “The fact that we have one of the most successful mobile sports betting products in the country, I can build on that. And we should build on that. Because the numbers from iGaming really leapfrog over mobile sports betting numbers.”