Sunday, February 13, 2005
LET'S CASH IN ON SPORTS BETS: PANEL
By STEFAN C. FRIEDMAN
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February 13, 2005 -- New York would break the bank if the state rolled the dice on sports betting, an influential local business group has found.
Albany's coffers could balloon by as much as $1.9 billion a year — all of which, under law, would go to fund education — if gambling on sports were legalized, according to a study by The Partnership for New York City.
"This is more money than we can afford to ignore," said partnership president Kathryn Wylde, adding the partnership hasn't yet endorsed a plan to legalize gambling.
The group's study was based on Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes' estimate that $30 billion is wagered statewide on sports annually, with much of the take going to organized crime.
The partnership estimated the net profit from that at $1.9 billion.
City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) is drafting a resolution that would put pressure on the state Legislature to legalize sports gambling.
Both Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg are opposed to the idea, and it's unclear if a challenge to a 1992 congressional ban on sports betting outside Nevada would hold u
