Brian P. Friedman

Brian P. Friedman is a justice on the New York State Supreme Court for the Third Judicial District, serving in Albany County. He is not a gambling-industry executive or regulator; his relevance to the iGaming and gambling sector comes from the courts.

In November 2024, Friedman handed down a landmark ruling affecting the U.S. sports-betting market: he held that New York’s mobile sports-betting licensing scheme violated the state constitution. The decision, in litigation over the New York State Gaming Commission’s mobile sports-wagering process, centered on the argument that the 2013 constitutional amendment authorizing casino gambling did not permit wagering to be conducted statewide through mobile apps outside the physical boundaries of licensed commercial casinos. Friedman agreed, found the gaming commission’s licensing framework unconstitutional, and voided the mobile sports-betting licenses.

The decision was stayed pending appeal, so New York’s mobile sportsbook market continued operating in the interim. The ruling made Friedman one of the most consequential U.S. judges for the sports-betting industry that year, and the appeal is being watched closely by operators, suppliers and investors nationwide.