With more than double the population of the New Jersey, the neighboring state that held the record for sports betting handle in one month, New York’s legal sports betting reported a new record of $1.63 billion bet on sports in only three weeks of January. New Jersey held the previous record of $1.3 billion set in September 2021.
Even with a prohibitive tax rate of 51 percent, bettors came rushing to the mobile apps on January 9. Surprisingly, however, a report from GeoComply issued just a week after the launch, only 9.3 percent of New York players have placed bets previously in New Jersey, easing cannibalization concerns. In addition, 87.8 percent of New York players are brand new to regulated online sports betting. And although revenue numbers for New Jersey won’t be released until this week, New Jersey averaged 12.6 million geolocation transactions the two weekends prior to the New York launch and 13.1 million the two weekends since launch.
New York state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., one of the sponsors of the bill legalizing mobile sports betting, was thrilled.
“This is great,” he told the AP. “Going back to the first week we started, we did as much in two days as we had in two years before that. And we’re still not even firing on all cylinders.”
Caesars was the market leader in New York, taking $615 million in bets and reaping almost $56 million in revenue. But some payment delays to players sparked the ire of Addabbo.
“This is such a competitive market. And you’re such a player. Get your act together,” he said. “You’re in New York. You’re in the sports capital of the world, and you’re acting like you’re in some small town. C’mon. You’re Caesars.”
FanDuel was second with $502 million wagered, generating $23.6 million in revenue. DraftKings, BetMGM, Rush Street and PointsBet followed in order.
“Legal sports betting in New York has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Kevin Hennessy, a spokesman for FanDuel. “New York and New Jersey combined are practically the center of legal sports betting in the United States. We are thrilled with how many New York customers have signed up to the FanDuel Sportsbook, and we continue to see New Jersey as a growing market.”
Seven of the nine licenses were active in New York in January. WynnBet launched last week, Resorts World Bet and BallyBet are not yet live.
“WynnBET beginning operations in New York is a monumental step in the growth of our company,” Wynn Interactive President Ian Williams said. “New York represents a significant population of our Wynn Rewards membership, and we are confident in our ability to compete in this market by providing the first-class service and gaming experiences synonymous with the Wynn Resorts brand.”
WynnBET New York patrons will gain immediate access to Wynn Rewards, providing them with a variety of real-life experiences and benefits that can be used at Wynn Resorts’ properties. Existing Wynn Rewards members will be able to connect their accounts to WynnBET upon completing registration.
New York patrons will be able to take advantage of a new player offer, Bet $10 Win $200. If a player completes registration, makes at least a $10 deposit, and places a $10 first-time straight bet or parlay wager, they will receive $200 in free bets.”
Bally Bet is holding off for several reasons.
“We think that actually, the current version of sports betting is not a great business. It’s a fine business, it’s not a great business,” Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim told CNBC’s Contessa Brewer
Don’t expect Bally Bet to launch in the NY Sports Betting market too soon. The Bally Bet sportsbook isn’t expected to launch until April.
With that targeted launch date, Bally’s will miss out on a couple huge sporting events, the Super Bowl and entire NCAA Tournament. These are obviously major time periods for the sports betting industry. However, Kim claims to be playing the long game and is comfortable with the fact they’ll miss out on the events.
“Oh yeah, we’re OK with that. I think that we have a longer-term plan and I think part of this is why maybe our plan isn’t fully being grasped by the public markets,” Kim said. “The public markets tend to be very short-term minded, what’s going to happen in the next earnings, what’s going to happen at the next, you know.
“But we think that actually, the current version of sports betting is not a great business. It’s a fine business, it’s not a great business. We think that there will be a wave of consolidation that will rationalize promotions. But more importantly, I think people will stop competing with just free money but people will start competing with product.”
Kim and Bally’s were hopeful that operators in New York would be more sensible pertaining to promotions due to the fact there are only nine licenses and the 51 percent tax. But it’s actually turned out to be ridiculous.
“As a New York state citizen, I thought this is great. I mean, it’s insane, it’s so… look, I think it’s kind of funny,” said Kim.
“Like literally—without casting aspersions on all of our fellow colleagues and industry participants—but you could literally open an account with one person, open an account with another person, get your free promotional money and bet separately, different ways on the same game, and you will win on one of them. Like, I don’t know why everyone’s not doing that.”
Caesars Sportsbook has given the biggest promotional offer, offering $3,300 in promos upon launching.
