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And the money kept rolling in (and out)

Ken Kruly

June 18

"When the money keeps rolling in

"You don't ask how

"Think of all the people guaranteed

"A good time now"

From Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice's Evita – And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out)

Previous posts have reported and commented on the growing popularity of online gambling in the sports world.

In the 2023-2024 fiscal year the total handle for mobile sports wagering in New York was $19.6 billion. The state's share of that handle (51 percent of net revenue) was $898.5 million. In the first two months of the 2024-2025 fiscal year the state took in $197.4 million, which was an increase of $49.1 million or 33 percent compared with the same two months last year.

The Washington Post recently reported that New York takes in "more than a third of total state gambling-tax revenue in the United States." That includes all forms of gambling including lotteries and horse racing. A statement from the Executive Director of the state Gaming Commission in January 2023 reported that "more than 3.8 million unique player accounts have been created since launch in January of 2022, conducting over 1.2 billion transactions."

There are consequences for that kind of spending but the measure of those consequences is hard to find. The state Office of Addiction Services and Supports cites a survey of adults in New York that reported "around 4.4 percent are at risk and less than 1 percent are problem gamblers." The survey was conducted in 2020, prior to when mobile sports wagering became legal in the state. Likely no one in or out of government really knows how many New Yorkers are "problem gamblers" at this time. The state diverts $6 million of its gambling proceeds to fund problem gambling education and treatment.

Lately there have been other consequences getting reported involving gambling on the part of athletes. The major development was the arrest of star baseball player Shohei Ohtani's friend and translator, who pleaded guilty to the theft of $16 million of Ohtani's money to finance the friend's gambling. One of Ohtani's former teammates is under investigation for betting. A San Diego Padres baseball player has been banned for life for betting nearly $90,000 on Major League Baseball games while four other players have been suspended for betting on MLB games while playing in the minor leagues. In basketball a Toronto Raptors player was banned for life by the NBA for sharing information with a bettor. More than 20 Iowa and Iowa State universities student-athletes were investigated last year by the NCAA for gambling issues.

This post has not been brought to you by the NFL's "official sports betting partners," Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel, who of course encourage you to bet responsibly. And often.

The damage is occurring but the money keeps rolling in. You cannot put the genie back into the bottle.

Public financing of state legislative campaigns is underway

"You can tell you've done well
"By the happy grateful looks
"Accountants only slow things down
"Figures get in the way" Evita

The state's new Public Campaign Financing Program became operational this year. Over 300 legislative candidates applied for participation. Procedural training was conducted. The first checks have gone out to nearly 60 candidates thus far.

And already, just months into program, problems may be developing. The New York Times did an investigation into campaign receipts of one of the first 57 legislative candidates who has received payments from the Program, Dao Yin, a Democrat in the 40th Assembly District. He has received a payment of $162,800 thus far to match $28,000 he took in as contributions; half of that amount extraordinarily came in cash. The paper's investigators tried to track down 55 of the contributors that Yin reported on his financial statements. The Times found that:

at least 19 said they had not contributed.
eleven others no longer lived at the addresses listed for them [donors must be residents of the District]. Some had moved to other cities or states years ago, including one who left New York in 2013.
only seven of those interviewed said they had donated small sums to Mr. Yin.
three supposed donors were listed at the same [Queens] building. Two had not heard of Dao Yin. One of the two moved away six years ago; the third could not be located.
another donor was listed as contributing $25 to Mr. Yin's campaign. She said she had not lived at the listed location in five years.

The Times noted that "Mr. Yin said in a brief telephone interview last week that he had personally collected all of the donations to his campaign. He could not explain why so many people said they had never heard of him, much less given him money. Mr. Yin… serves as his own campaign treasurer… Mr. Yin has some familiarity with matching-funds programs: He ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2021 and Queens borough president in 2020. In those races, he received a total of $1,098,267 in public matching funds via New York City's system."

I am not suggesting that these sorts of findings are occurring in the campaigns of other candidates who have been receiving public funding. The thing is, we may never know.

The Times points out:

unlike the New York City public funding program that served as a model, "the state has no spending limits."
only candidates receiving $500,000 or more of public funds are subject to mandatory audits. Given the limits on public funds provided to a candidate, that provision would potentially only applied to a Senate candidate who has both a primary and a general election. No Assembly candidates would be subject to a mandatory audit; more than two-thirds of the Program's participants are Assembly candidates. For those candidates receiving less than $500,000, just one third of them, selected randomly, will be subject to audits.
the Board "does not publish the identity of bundlers, the influential fund-raisers who bring in money from others."
The Board's staff is small and has a large number of offices that are eligible for public funding that it must monitor.

So the money will keep rolling out. Who is watching?

Kennedy's Transportation Committee successor comes to town

Tim Kennedy moved on from the state Senate to Congress about six weeks ago. He was Chairman of the Senate's Transportation Committee, which carries heavy responsibilities in the state.

Kennedy's replacement as Committee Chair is Senator Jeremy Cooney of Rochester. The WNY FAIR Committee which is involved in transportation issues and Sam Hoyt of Upstate Strategic Advisors are sponsoring a fundraiser for Cooney in Buffalo on June 24. Details here: https://secure.ngpvan.com/sLrT_Rw7hUi97E8YM7TwuA2

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