New York Shakes Up Mobile Sports Betting in the US
Anyone connected with the sports betting industry already knew that New York going live with online sports betting was going to be a big deal. However, even the most optimistic industry analysists underestimated the overall impact in the first month of business.
Going back to Jan. 8, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook and BetRivers were given the green light to launch their mobile sportsbook apps in the Empire State. Later in the month, BetMGM joined that list as the third-biggest US sportsbook operator in terms of market share. The other operator to offer mobile betting in New York was PointsBet. WynnBET also went live in New York ahead of this year’s NFL Super Bowl.
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Tallying up the total volume of sports bets place through the end of the month, New York’s total sports betting handle for January reached $1.6 billion. This figure was recently released by the New York State Gaming Commission.
To put that figure into its proper perspective, the previous monthly record was $1.3 billion. This was set by New Jersey in October of last year. The Garden State was one of the first states outside of Nevada to offer legal sports betting in the US market. It went live in June of 2018.
New York just shattered that mark in three quarters of its first month in business with just a handful of live online sportsbook operators. The change in state law made provisions for a total of nine online sports betting operators. The two remaining books planning to come online are BallyBet and Resorts World.
Looking back at his state’s instant success, state Senator Joseph Addabbo commented on the early results as follows:
“When we brought mobile sports betting to New York, we had confidence it was going to be a success, but to be able to break the national record of total handle for sports betting in a single month – in our very first month – with primarily only six sportsbooks, is both rewarding and exciting.”
As the Chair of the NYS Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, Senator Addabbo was instrumental in helping to get the proper legislation for mobile sports betting passed and signed into law.
He went on to add:
“Breaking this record proves that New York was ready for mobile sports betting and we are providing our state with a new revenue, educational and addiction funding source.”
Operating a legal mobile sportsbook in New York comes at a steep price. The state’s tax rate for online sports betting revenue is set at 51%. This relates more to the potential of New York’s sports betting industry than it does to the high cost of doing business.
There was no lack of demand to obtain one of those nine operator licenses. This is clearly a major sports market from New City up through Buffalo.
As part of the state’s land-based casino industry, legal retail sports betting in New York has been up and running since 2019. However, retail books were limited to casinos located in the upstate region of New York. This list of commercial options included Resorts World Catskills, del Lago in the Finger Lakes, Rivers in Schenectady and Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier.
Legal retail sportsbooks were also approved for a limited selection of tribal gaming casinos in that same region of the state.
Efforts are now underway to bring land-based casinos to the New York City metro area. Resorts World Casino, Isle of Capri and Empire City Casino currently offer slots and other types of electronic gaming machines in this particular region. Under state law, this new retail expansion would include a full gaming menu including table games and retail sports betting.
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