New York Sports Betting Is Now Legal, But You Can’t Bet on These Teams … for Now

• Online sports betting will be up-and-running in New York early next year
• Betting on certain teams will not be allowed within the confines of New York state
• Which ones? Here’s a hint: they don’t get paid

New York sports betting is already underway at retail locations in the state and online sports betting is going to follow early in 2022.

Two of the biggest betting markets across the United States are college football and college basketball. In some states, residents are able to wager on their local college teams (see Arizona, Colorado, and Pennsylvania) the same way they would wager on out-of-state teams.

In others, like New Jersey, residents are prohibited from betting on the likes of Rutgers, Princeton, and Seton Hall.

The sports-betting regulations in New York dictate that the Empire State is going to follow the lead of its neighbour to the west, meaning New Yorkers will not be able to bet on New York colleges in any sport.

The state of New York is home to three FBS college football teams and 21 Division I college basketball teams.

FBS Football and Div. I Basketball Teams in New York

Why Are College Teams Excluded from Betting?

In New Jersey, the answer is something akin to “integrity”. As Dino Flammia of NJ101.5 wrote, “Schools and officials fear college players may be influenced to manipulate the outcome of a game, or be pressured to share private information concerning, for example, team injuries. The same risk, others say, remains with any underground betting.”

The NCAA itself (the body that governs collegiate sports) has made its organizational feelings on sports betting well known. “The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering, which has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community,” reads an official statement posted to NCAA.org.

The NCAA is also lobbying for widespread federal regulations on sports betting, presumably regulations that limit betting on college sports.

Statement from NCAA on the introduction of federal sports betting bill to be introduced today: pic.twitter.com/gwiTpTeggv

— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) December 19, 2018

What About College Football and College Basketball Championship Futures?

Betting on March Madness and College Football Playoff futures will not be any different than single-game betting as far as wagering on New York schools goes.. New Yorkers will not be able to wager on New York schools to win the college basketball or college football national championships.

How does this work in practice, since New York teams could win those events?

The pages for those betting markets at sites like FanDuel New York and DraftKings New York will state at the top “Winner without New York schools” or something to that effect. In the event that a New York school does win one of those titles, the sportsbook rules will determine what happens to wagers on that event.

It is likely that wagers would be refunded, but it’s also possible that wagers on the runner-up would be graded as winners (and all others graded as losses).

New customers are always welcome to discuss issues like this with customer-service representatives at each sportsbook.

Will the Situation Ever Change?

“Ever”? Yes, probably. But it’s far too early to say if that will be in our lifetime.

Sports betting is still now novel and amendments to the current legal framework are the furthest thing from everyone’s mind.

New Yorkers wanting to bet on New York colleges will have to get used to travelling to New Jersey or Connecticut for the time being.