New York Mobile Sports Betting Handle Exceeds $600M in First Nine Days

Posted on: January 21, 2022, 03:43h. 

Last updated on: January 21, 2022, 04:41h.

Steve Bittenbender Read More
Expertise: Legislation, Sports Betting, Horse Racing.

The New York State Gaming Commission released its first batch of weekly financial figures for mobile sports betting on Friday. The numbers show the state generated $24.6 million in tax revenue for the first nine days since the first apps launched.

Obi Toppin Knicks dunk
Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks goes up for a dunk in a November game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The New York State Gaming Commission released sports betting figures for the first nine days of operation on Friday, showing the state is already topping most others in terms of handle and revenue. (Image: Sky Sports)

BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, and FanDuel combined to accept $603.1 million in wagers from the start of sports betting on Jan. 8 through last Sunday. The Commission plans to announce figures on a weekly basis with the week ending on the previous Sunday.

Of that total, the four sportsbooks reported gross gaming revenues of $48.2 million.

New York taxes mobile sports betting operators at 51 percent. That’s based on the proposals the Gaming Commission received from applicants last year.

BetMGM went live last Monday. BallyBET, PointsBet, Resorts World Bet, and Wynn Interactive await clearance from the Gaming Commission to launch.

According to data from GeoComply, nearly 880,000 New Yorkers set up sports betting accounts during the first 10 days of operation. The overwhelming majority of those users are first-timers in a regulated marketplace.

NY Sports Betting By the Numbers

New York’s numbers were expected to be high simply based on the fact it’s currently the largest state, by population, to offer mobile sports betting, and it’s also one of the largest state economies in the country.

Putting New York’s numbers in perspective, New Jersey – which competes with Nevada for sports betting bragging rights – reported sportsbook revenues of $59 million for the entire month of December.

Speaking of New Jersey, New York’s neighbor needed two years to generate a monthly handle exceeding $600 million.

From a tax revenue perspective, New York took in more taxes in nine days than Pennsylvania’s 36 percent tax has generated for that state in any one month of the 2022 fiscal year so far.

New York’s mobile sports betting operators needed less than 10 days to surpass the revenues the state’s retail sportsbooks at the four upstate casinos have earned since they opened more than two years ago. Those four brick-and-mortar sites have generated $39.6 million in winnings.

The $24.6 million in tax revenue works out to a pace of $82 million in tax revenue for the month. That pace is helped by the fact the NFL season has reached the playoffs, and most states see sports betting numbers taper off when football ends.

New York’s budget anticipated generating $249 million in revenue for this fiscal year, which ends in March. Of that, $200 million has been received already through licensing fees. For the 2023 fiscal year, which starts in April, the state has forecast revenues of $357 million. Eventually, the state expects tax revenues to exceed $500 million annually by the 2026 fiscal year.

Caesars is the King of New York, So Far

So far, according to Gaming Commission data, Caesars Sportsbook is the king of New York’s sports betting apps.

For the first nine days of operation, the Caesars app generated a handle of $257.7 million and winnings of $22.7 million.

FanDuel reported a handle of $200.3 million since launching on Jan. 8. The Flutter Entertainment sports betting operator took in revenues of $14.1 million.

DraftKings received $134.4 million in wagers and claimed $10.9 million in revenues.

BetRivers, operated by Rush Street Interactive, had a handle of $10.6 million and revenues of $446,696.