Welcome to the Fabulous New York: Viva New York as Wagering Hits $2billion in Just a Few Months
By Space Coast Daily // January 23, 2023
Online sports betting was legalised in New York state in January 2022, and it’s fair to say the locals have really been enjoying their new found gambling freedom, wagering a whopping $2.4billion since.
It was a big move for the state, and it’s already proven a success with New York’s tax collectors purring at the revenue streams online sportsbooks are making to boost the coffers.
In fact, so far the state has collected $78.5million, significantly more than the $49million originally forecast for the first quarter.
Naturally, the Super Bowl played a big part of that in early February, where during the week leading up to the event alone, New Yorkers wagered a whopping $472million, making up a quarter of all mobile bets nationwide.
State Senate, Joseph P. Addabo Jr. who has been serving as the chairman of the committee on racing, gaming and wagering said, “It’s amazing. The astonishment of these numbers: It’s incredible.”
“It’s our first month, ever, and we’re at $2 billion,”
The state’s first foray into online casino gambling has certainly surprised a few, with the state far exceeding many other more established states when it comes to gambling. Revenue in January in New York surpassed neighbouring New Jersey. The Garden State has been typically a place where New Yorkers cross the border to go and place their bets, whether that be online or enjoying the casino games in the likes of Atlantic City.
However, sports bets placed for New York were $300million higher than the best month New Jersey has ever had. Meanwhile, the state even seen more bets placed on sport than Nevada, the home of gambling in the USA, although overall gambling revenue still far exceeds New York thanks to its casino offering.
Which could potentially be next for New York. If the success of sportsbook betting in the Empire State continues to flourish, and the state raises tens of millions of dollars in taxes, then there will naturally be a review on how they can expand on that further, and a foray into online bingo and casino games seems the obvious option.
Many other states have already legalised playing bingo games and the likes of online slots and roulette in the state, and have reaped the taxation rewards from it, including New Jersey in which the likes of Atlantic City are seeing a resurgence due to the additional revenue.
A bill has recently been introduced in the state by Addabbo Jr. which covers legalising iGaming, which if approved would allow many of the brands that have already arrived with their sportsbook to expand their offering into table games and slots, which would then be taxed at 25% by the government. It’s believed that it could welcome around $475million in tax revenue each year as well as $150 million in one-off license fees.
It would be a big move for the state, which has quickly become a leader when it comes to sportsbook. Of course, that’s no huge surprise. The state has a population of over 19million, compared to the likes of New Jersey which is less than half of that.
That means that should online casinos and bingo sites be legalised, very quickly the state of New York could be challenging for number one spot in terms of revenue, even going up against the likes of Nevada, where millions of people flock to Las Vegas every year to enjoy such resorts.
Across the year it’s likely we’ll hear and see much more in regards to the state expanding its offering. Especially after such a positive start to the year for its newly born sportsbook industry.
