New York has now concluded its first year of legal mobile sports betting. The Empire State, which launched its market on January 8, 2022, celebrates its first anniversary as the top jurisdiction for sports wagering in the US. The state, which broke records time and time again, accumulated as of December 25, 2022, $15.9 billion in total handling.
While New York was far from the first US market to launch after the historic Supreme Court decision that paved the way to regulated sports betting in 2018, it only took one month for the Empire State to become the largest in the country. By February 2022, it had already surpassed long-established jurisdictions such as New Jersey.
The state now completes its first year in activity topping $15.8 billion in handling to date, and with gross gaming revenue surpassing $1.3 billion. As a result of New York’s much-discussed 51% tax rate on sports gaming – a source of heated debate among the industry, especially in the first days of the market – this has implied about $680 million in tax revenue going to the state.
What’s more impressive is that New York numbers were achieved through only nine operational sportsbooks, compared to nearly two dozen in New Jersey. In comparison, through the end of November, New Jersey had delivered $675 million in sports wagering revenue, while New York had pulled in $1.2 billion.
By the end of 2022, FanDuel positions itself as the market leader with about $6.4 billion in handle and almost $650 million in GGR. DraftKings comes second at $4.5 billion handle and $354 million in GGR. Caesars Sportsbook rounds out the top three with almost $2.8 billion handle and $214 million GGR, according to data from the NYS Gaming Commission.
Handle hits nine-month high in December
New York’s impressive results for its first year of legal mobile sports betting come after a nine-month handle high in Decemberaccording to the state’s newest report. Consumer spending on sports wagering totaled $1.6 billion for the last month of the year, up 3.9% from $1.56 billion in November.
While December’s handle marks the third-highest monthly amount since the state’s launch, revenue still fell month-on-month – a first time in five months. December’s total reached $141.8 million, down 4.3% from November’s record $148.2 million.
There were no changes in terms of market leadership. In line with the first full year’s picture, FanDuel remained the leading operator at $663.2 million handle and $67.9 million in revenue, followed by DraftKings ($523.9 million handle, $44.7 million in revenue) and Caesars ($214.1 million handle, $15.6 million in revenue).
The sportsbooks are followed by BetMGM ($116 million handle; $9.4 million GGR), Rush Street Interactive ($43 million handle; $2.6 million GGR) and PointsBet ($48 million handle, $711,904 GGR). lastly, Resorts World posted $267,110 in revenue from $5.5 million in total bets; Wynn Interactive posted $409,419 GGR off $9.4 million in handle; and BallyBet placed last at $47,236 revenue from $725,931 in total bets.
What to expect from 2023
New York doesn’t seem likely to lose its top spot any time soon, meaning lawmakers won’t be in a rush to modify the current scheme. While adding more sportsbook licenses and lowering the record-high 51% tax rate on sports betting are two ideas that have been frequently brought up since market launch, there doesn’t seem to be an appetite to work on either of them – if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr.
What New Yorkers will see, though, is a push for legal online gaming. The idea has been championed by senators such as Joseph Addabbo, Jr., Chairman of the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering. In November, the policymaker called for efforts “to consider entry into the iGaming market” as a means to further raise tax revenue for the state.
And finally, land-based casino options in the Empire State are set to expand through the granting of three new retail licenses for downstate New York. The state has now formally begun soliciting bids with an asking price of $500 million for the permits, something which Yogonet covered earlier this month.
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