The state of New York certainly has online sports betting to its collective heart since the activity was legalised earlier in January. Indeed, New Yorkers have wagered a collective $603 million in bets, according to figures released by the state Gaming Commission last week.
The bets placed on sports such as American football, basketball, ice hockey, and others have pulled in $48.2 million in gross gaming revenues in the period from January 8 to 16. The state of New York imposes a 51% tax rate on mobile sports betting operators’ revenues. That means that the first week of legalised online sports betting generated tax revenues of $24.6 million for the state.
Those figures mean that New York state’s launch of mobile sports betting has outstripped that of every other state that has so far launched the concept. By way of comparison, Pennsylvania, according to PlayNY.com, generated $23 million in sports betting revenue for the entire month of November 2021.
New York surpasses PA and NJ
New York also looks set to surpass New Jersey, the state which had previously set the USA record for wagers in a month, with $1.3 billion of bets placed in October. That figure represented around $41.9 million of bets being placed on average every day for that month.
New York’s initial figures show that residents of the state are placing collective bets worth $67 million per day. This is beyond the optimistic predictions that were made by the gambling industry and other interested observers before the launch.
Previous to the launch of online sports betting, New Yorkers either had to gamble at upstate casinos, or cross into New Jersey to place do their virtual sports betting and other online wagering.
New York lawmakers delighted with online sports betting launch
New York Gaming Commission Brad Maione is delighted with the way things have started, stating: “We have been pleased with the handle [amount wagered], which indicates interest in mobile sports wagering and accessibility to the licensed providers.”
That view is shared by state Senator Joe Addabbo Jr., a Democrat, who chairs the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee.
“These are great numbers. It’s a solid start and we have the National Football League playoffs and the Super Bowl coming up,” he said.
PlayNY.com’s analysts believe that the impressive figures only serve to highlight the massive potential for profit that exists in the New York online betting market, stating: “This report certainly inspires encouragement as the state has the potential to become the No. 1 sports betting market in the US.”
The only real negative aspect of the first period of legal mobile betting in New York was some online glitches that affected the online launch of Caesar’s in the state. This does not appear to have had too great of an impact on New Yorkers flocking to online betting portals with enthusiasm, however.
