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State Restaurant Association calls for on-premise sports betting kiosks

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The New York State Restaurant Association is urging lawmakers to expand gaming licenses across the state to include restaurants due to its unpredictable popularity.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in January that the state collected over $900 million in taxes and licensing fees from mobile sports betting.

In its first year, New Yorkers placed more than $16 billion in bets online after paying out the winning bets. The state said it earned about $1.4 billion dollars in revenue and restaurants have an appetite for the profit.

The Banshee Irish Pub on Franklin Street is a go to destination for premiere league soccer but Neil Coogan, Co-Owner of the Pub said it's a packed house no matter what sport is on the screen.

"You know we have 150 people in here and I look around the room and I see 20 or 30 guys placing bets on Fanduel," said Neil Coogan, Co-Owner of Banshee Irish Pub.

Coogan said for the Irish themed bar, sports betting is just another piece of home.

"Back home in every village in Ireland people can go and place a bet on a horse or a game and then run into the bar and watch their horse win or lose or their team win or lose," said Coogan. "So, it's an integral part of the social community."

An integral part Coogan said could benefit his business right here in Buffalo.

"We have online gaming legal here in New York State which is a great thing but I think New York State is missing out on revenue," said Coogan.

The Association said on-premises betting will help "expand the economic arsenal available to restaurants as they continue to struggle with the harsh economic environment."

"The ability to partner with existing companies that already have licenses here in New York and be able to have kiosks where these restaurants can partner with these gaming companies and be able to take bets in," said Kevin Dugan, the New York State Restaurant Association Director or Government Affairs. "The restaurant would then get a percentage of the business that those kiosk would do."

The call is for sport betting kiosks to be installed in restaurants to help increase business revenue and meet the demand of consumers wanting to place sports bets while at restaurants. Dugan said it would be perfect for people who want to place bets but don't like doing so through the phone. The kiosks will allow people to place bets in cash right from their seats. Dugan told 7 News, other states have already seen success.

"I think it was Ohio that just expanded their licenses and I think they had something like 20,000 restaurants across the state apply for kiosks in the first couple days," said Dugan.

According to the NYSRA, the concept has been tested in a Washington D.C. sports bar that brought in over $1.4 million in gaming revenue since the beginning of the 2022 NFL season.

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New York sports fans have enthusiastically embraced sports betting, either at brick-and-mortar casinos or from their mobile devices, and are hungry for more. New York must capture this economic opportunity and expand the type of licenses available to restaurants and meet consumer demand. The restaurant industry is well-positioned to take advantage of this burgeoning marketplace and grow New York's sports betting footprint. We understand sports betting terminals and kiosks might not have a place in every restaurant and expanding available licenses may not be a silver bullet for the industry. However, for those where this is a fit, the additional revenue from on-premises sports betting could mean the difference between closing and survival.
President & CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, Melissa Fleischut

Dugan said it's a relatively new idea and like any bill will take legislation to pass in order to make it happen for local favorites like Banshee Irish Pub here in Western New York.

"I just see the missed opportunity for the state and me as a business owner losing out on the opportunity of offering that entertainment because that's what we're in it for," said Coogan. "To me it's a no brainer."