I think it may have something to do with the layout of New York State itself. First you have the southern end of the state, which includes NYC, western Lawn Guyland, and the surrounding area. That area is super urban, with not much room for football facilities, whereas basketball courts are easily set up, don’t take up much space, and don’t require routine maintenance.
Then you have eastern Lawn Guyland, which is very rich, very uppity. Not a ton of football.
Lastly, you have upstate, which spans a pretty wide area, but is also cold for a lot of the year.