Earlier this month, I appeared on WXXI-AM radio in Rochester to speak with Evan Dawson about the future of sports betting in New York state. You can listen to my radio interview on Dawson's show, "Connections."

The New York State Constitution expressly prohibits gambling unless an exception to that general rule is otherwise written in the Constitution. New York permits lottery, pari-mutuel horse race betting, and  -- after the Constitution was amended in 2013 – “casino gambling” in the state licensed commercial casinos. There are four licensed commercial casinos and although the Constitution does not specifically reference sports betting, the conventional wisdom is that sports betting at a casino would fall within the definition and concept of casino gambling.

Last spring, the United States Supreme Court held that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which limited legal sports betting to essentially Nevada, was unconstitutional. Now there is a national gold rush of sorts in many states underway to establish a legal framework for sports betting, including in New York. As I shared on “Connections,” I believe the upstate casinos will be granted licenses to have sports gambling in the future; while the yet-to-be answered question is whether mobile betting platforms outside of the casinos will be permitted and if so, how that will work within the confines of the Constitution.

Governor Cuomo has taken the position that mobile sports betting is prohibited in New York state and the only manner in which it will be permitted is with an amendment to the State Constitution. This would require the state legislature to pass legislation in two consecutive legislative sessions (each session spans two years), followed by a statewide ballot measure on this issue, taking several years for the issue to be fully addressed in a constitutional context.