New York Sets Record with $1.1B Online Sports Betting Handle
New York
New York’s online sports betting platforms only went live a few weeks ago, but already, they’ve shattered records.
The gaming commission in the state reported that in just the first three weeks of January, the state’s four approved online sports betting platforms brought in a total handle of $1.1 billion. The previous record was set by Arizona, which brought in $777 million. But, that handle was for the entire months of September and October.
What has taken some other states even more than a year to accomplish, New York has crossed in only a few short weeks. It proves what many legislators in the state have been saying for a while now — that New York could easily become the leading sports betting state in the nation.
More Operators are Set to Launch
When New York approved online sports betting, only four platforms were able to offer full-fledged online sports betting at the onset. That included FanDuel, Rush Street Interactive, DraftKings and Caesars Sportsbook.
Now, though, another five platforms have received approval from the state of New York — including BetMGM, PointsBet, Resorts World Bet, Wynn Interactive and Bally Bet. That will add loads of choice for New Yorkers, who could take advantage of impressive promotions meant to lure them to a different platform.
In fact, these offers are a major reason why the initial handle in New York was so high. One of the operators, Caesars Sportsbook, was putting forth up to a $3,000 bonus for new players to join their site. Many other operators are likely to put forth impressive offers of their own in the coming weeks.
An independent company called GeoComply Solutions reported that more than 1.2 million new sports betting accounts have already been created in New York since the launch of the online sports betting operations, and many more are expected to be created in the months ahead.
The True Long-Term Potential
How high can New York’s online sports betting handle really reach? It’s hard to say this early, but the prospects are significant to say the least.
Across the country, legal sports betting was able to generate $1.5 billion in revenue for operators in 2020, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. That is expected to reach all the way to $5.8 billion by the end of 2022 — an impressive 287% increase in just two years’ time.
A lot of that, of course, comes from the fact that new states are legalizing sports betting in some fashion ever year. If New York continues this massive growth, though, the $5.8 billion projection could rise even higher.
People already knew that New Yorkers were big sports bettors; it’s just that they didn’t have local access to online sports betting before January. When New York initially legalized sports betting, it could only take place at land-based casinos.
The problem for many people — including those who lived in New York City — was that these casinos were mainly located in the upstate region, which could be a four-hour-drive away.
As a result, many people simply crossed the rivers into neighboring New Jersey, where they could legally wager online once they verified their location. Many experts estimated that as much as 25% of New Jersey’s online sports betting revenue came from residents of New York.
Now, that revenue can stay within New York, and lead to increased tax revenue for the state.
Legislators were long touting the benefits of online sports betting in New York. Now, that conjecture is a reality.
What do you think?
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