NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
In January of 2022, it became legal in the state of New York to use Mobile Sports Betting Apps such as Fanduel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, and others. With all the commotion going on, we as New Yorkers never took into account the fine print that came along with such great news.
As a bettor, things have gone pretty well in New York but it’s when you leave the state and travel to another that you begin to notice just how different Fanduel Sportsbook is for us here. For instance, I recently traveled to Maryland where Mobile Sportsbooks are legal as well, and was shocked once I signed on to Fanduel Sportsbook to place my daily bets.
With the NBA on hiatus thanks to the All-Star break, my betting was centered on College Basketball and NHL. As someone who normally bets on both in NY, I wasn’t expecting anything different, but as soon as I logged in and clicked the More Wages tab, I was upset.
See, in NY, my options were limited and but I didn’t know just how limited they were. While in Maryland, I learned that under the Basketball tab, I could bet on a slew of Foreign Basketball Leagues that I didn’t have the option of doing so while in my home state of NY. But that was just the tip of the issue.
As a regular bettor for NHL, I would normally do Over/Under for Goals, Spread, and Moneylines. That was the norm. But with Same Game Parlay (SGP), I could do more under the More Wages tab such as First/Anytime Goals Scorers, Points/Assists, and things of that nature. Now, in Maryland, I was figuring more of the same. I would do my normal bets but when I went to start betting, I was given way more options than what I was used to.
Is Fanduel Good For New York
Now I could do more like Player Performance Parlays where I could choose two players to have 3.4 shots on goals combined with 0.5 Goals Scored. It was a game-changer for me in terms of betting NHL. In my mind, I’m figuring I may have overlooked that option when I was home for the last year. But once I returned back to New York, I realized that option does not exist in my state.
It’s the same with College Basketball. In Maryland, I can build a 10+ points, 6+ rebounds Parlay for College but in NY, I can’t do that. The same goes for other sports as well. In NY, we may have access to around 6 different Leagues to bet on basketball but in Maryland, that number grew to over 25. Imagine the amount of money Fanduel and the state would earn if we were given more betting options.
I fully understand that some states have different options but as big as New York is and with a sizable number of daily bettors, why are we being excluded from these bets? I’m not sure if this is a Fanduel law or a New York State issue but this needs to be fixed. It’s not our fault that on the same betting app, some states have better options than others. Why are we being penalized?
