The record shattering start to online sports betting in New York did not inhibit the results of the four commercial casinos. All four improved their total gross gaming revenue in January by at least 14 percent when compared to January of 2021.
The four reported a total of close to $48 million in GGR, with each property reporting gains. That includes all forms of gambling. The figure was $37 million last year, according to PlayUSA.
Impressive, no? Not so impressive when you consider the comparison was with a month when Covid-19 restricted capacity and cut back on offerings.
Comparisons with January 2019—pre-pandemic—reveal that the four reported $45 million in GGR.
The New York State Gaming Commission doesn’t list handle for the physical sportsbooks for previous fiscal years, only revenue. But comparing handle between January 2022 and December 2021 revealed only Tioga Downs posted an increase, at 6.3 percent more.
Resorts World’s sports betting handle fell by about 12.2 percent. Rivers saw a decrease of around 27 percent and sports bettors at del Lago plunked down about 27.5 percent less than they had the previous month. Of course, sports betting in the context of a retail casino is a sideline, not the main course. A side dish if you will.
It’s important to keep in mind that retail sports betting in New York wasn’t a huge revenue generator prior to the commencement of online wagering. For instance, July 2021 was the best month of the fiscal year so far for Tioga Downs in terms of total GGR. Tioga Downs had over $8.8 million in revenue. The revenue from sports betting that month came to $119,290. That represents just around 1.3 percent of the total for the casino that month.
The total GGR for Rivers that month was more than $17.3 million. So, at its zenith, retail sports betting revenue only accounted for about 9.8 percent of a New York commercial casino’s total take for a month in that time span.
By law, all online sportsbooks have to host their servers at one of the four commercial casinos in the state. The companies worked out those deals privately and the NYSGC hasn’t released any details of them.
In related New York news, more than $2 billion in wagers. Nearly $80 million in tax revenue. And a quarter of the entire nation’s mobile-sports wagers on the Super Bowl.
New York’s sudden ascension into the biggest bookmaking market in the nation is part of a remarkable post-Covid reversal of fortune for the gaming industry. It is also a sign of the fast-growing appetite for sports betting in New York and across the country, a development that has addiction specialists concerned.
Americans wagered more than $57 billion on sports in 2021, a record, according to the American Gaming Association, even as casinos and other gambling outlets—which had been battered by pandemic lockdowns—rebounded with their highest-grossing year ever. Mainstays like table games and slot machines led the way, according to the New York Times.
In New York, where new tax revenue from online bets has quickly shot past projections, gamblers have laid down more than $2.4 billion in bets through February 13, including a staggering $472 million in the week ending with the Super Bowl. Bettors could even place a wager on individual plays in a game.
Indeed, the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports says that it has already seen a 46 percent increase in calls to its gambling helpline this January, compared with the previous January, amid new public awareness campaigns about responsible gaming.
The state budgeted $49 million for the first three months, but the estimate has shot up to $110 million, plus $200 million from licensing fees.
And new options are coming. The New York Yankees president, Randy Levine, expressed support for a betting kiosk at Yankee Stadium, following the lead of other professional sports franchises.
Michelle Hadden, the assistant executive director of programs with the New York Council on Problem Gambling, said many of the bettors who signed up in recent weeks were new to gambling, including young people who are “not educated, not prepared and easily swayed by the advertising.”
Richard Schwartz, the chief executive of BetRivers, which has betting platforms in New York and several neighboring states, says the market’s actual size will be clearer in the fall, just about when college football and the NFL season kick off. “You need around six months for the market to stabilize,” he said.
In other New York sports betting news, State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. has sponsored two more bills on gambling. One would permit sportsbooks to accept bets on horse races; the other would let stadiums and arenas install sports betting kiosks.
Bill S7536A passed 7-0 earlier in the week by members of the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee. It heads to the Senate Finance committee and does not yet have a vote scheduled on the Senate floor, according to Elite Sports NY.
“If someone on one of our apps can bet on the Nets, Knicks, Rangers, whatever team they want, and also horse racing at Saratoga, it will give the New York consumer a better product. I think integrating horse racing into mobile betting will be a very high priority for me,” Addabbo said.
If approved, bettors will be able to place a fixed odds bet on a horse race through one of the nine online operators. The operator would have to partner and enter into an agreement with a horse racing content provider.
Video-lottery terminal operator at Aqueduct Racetrack will be able to offer betting kiosks as well as well as the stadiums.
