March might be associated with madness for sports fans in the United States but for the New York gambling industry, there was little to be mad about. In fact, in one segment of the industry, March 2023 stands as the most lucrative month yet.
Commercial casinos and legal online New York sports betting combined to produce $230 million in gross gaming revenue for the month. That represents a significant improvement from the previous year and contains a new record for New York.
The annual NCAA men’s and women’s basketball championships usually prove to be the most-bet events of each year in the U.S. By no means was 2023 an exception to that rule. In New York, that especially rang true.
Thanks to the two championships in March, New York set a new record with bettors plunking down $1.785 billion in handle, believed to be second behind the $1.788 billion in the launch of mobile betting in January 2022.
Gross gaming revenue came to $162.8 million which beats out the previous high.
The state collected little more than $83 million in revenue for the month. New York online sportsbook operators pay 51 percent of their taxable revenue to the state.
New York saw even more tax dollars come in for commercials from poker, slots, and table games. March was a good month for their physical sportsbooks, too.
In terms of gross revenue from the state’s four commercial casinos for the month, the total reached $67.2 million. That includes in-person wagers on sporting events, poker, slots and table games. That beats March 2022’s $62.8 million and February’s $52 million.
All four of the casino properties—del Lago, Resorts World Catskills, Rivers Schenectady and Tioga Downs recorded annual individual gains as well.
- del Lago March 2023 gross revenue: $15.8 million
- Resorts World March 2023 gross revenue: $19.9 million
- Rivers Schenectady March 2023 gross revenue: $20.6 million
- Tioga Downs March 2023 gross revenue: $10.9 million
Only Tioga Downs among them failed to report a winning month in that regard.
Sportsbooks can expect a downturn now, as there is no March Madness until next March, no super bowl until February. The NFL season is not coming for five months.
That gives the casinos more of the spotlight for New York gambling, though. It also allows sportsbook operators in the state time to evaluate their businesses. When the next round of NFL playoffs and March Madness present themselves, New Yorkers will see if March 2023 defends its title as the winningest month ever.
