Bovada, a longtime offshore sports betting option for US players, has announced that it will block New York players beginning June 21. It’s an odd move, considering that Bovada is already, technically and legally, not allowed to serve US players at all. But it’s also a move that indicates the power of the US attorneys based in that part of the world, and the fear they inspire in operators of all sorts.

Word of the NY player ban was sent via an email that went out to players earlier this week. In that email, company officials cited the upcoming opening of New York’s regulated sports betting market as the main factor in their decision. “The newly introduced regulation and its increased restrictions on our players residing in NY has ultimately led to this difficult decision” they said.

But that doesn’t really make much sense.

After all, if the introduction of a regulated sports betting market were enough to make Bovada exit a US market, they would have already blocked players from at least 24 other states – but that hasn’t happened. A more likely explanation is posited at LegalSportsReport.com, where the specter of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (USDNY) hangs over unlicensed operators. The USDNY, you’ll recall, is the same office responsible for the investigation into online poker that led to Black Friday – and the end of US online poker.

Bovada’s exit is likely good news for operators planning to serve the NY market once it’s legal. Players who still have access to their black market accounts are less likely to use regulated operators when they have the chance. Of course they’ll have to wait until early 2022 to access those regulated operators, but that’s not Bovada’s problem.

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