The first four sportsbooks that accept wagers in the Empire State have brought in $150 million in the first weekend of legalized sports betting. These online providers saw more than one million people sign up and fund their accounts.
New York’s Opening Weekend of Sports Betting Was a Success
The state saw a total of 17.2 million transactions over the opening weekend. GeoComply, which provides geolocation compliance and fraud-security services, reported they have never seen the volume of new accounts being made.
Of the 1.2 million accounts that were set up since the sports betting operation began on Jan. 8th, 87.8 percent or 770,840 are new to the game of legalized sports betting. The data shows that bettors across the state are moving away from offshore or local bookies to place wagers.
The second week was even better for New York, with 17.9 million geolocation transactions. GeoComply has garnered more data from Jan. 8th to the 17th, which shows that the New York sports betting market is keeping the money in state.
Only 9.3 percent of bettors from the state crossed state lines to place bets on numerous events in that time frame. In months prior, bettors in New York, especially New York City, had been key contributors to New Jersey’s monthly sports handles.
Up to 20 percent of the Garden State’s sports betting handles came from residents of New York. There were concerns if the New Jersey sports betting handle could see a huge drop in numbers when mobile sports betting was finally in full effect in New York.
GeoComply has the numbers of New Jersey’s average volume in wagers before and after New York started its mobile sports betting operation.
“New Jersey is unfazed,” GeoComply said. “Averaging 12.6 million geolocation transactions “the two weekends before the New York launch and 13.1 million the two weekends since launch.”
The NFL’s Impact on New York Sports Betting Market
Football is the most wagered sport across the United States each year. Bettors in the Empire State had a chance to wager on the final week of the regular season, with some games having playoff implications.
Residents also had the chance to wager on the College Football National Championship game where The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide. Bettors placed wagers on four online sportsbooks that included Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetRivers.
BetMGM was not available to accept wagers until the 17th, when the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals. In the Empire State accounts per player average out to be 1.36. Four more sportsbooks are still awaiting approvals, including BallyBet, WynnBet, PointsBet, and Genting’s Resorts World.
New York may also benefit from the Buffalo Bills traveling Kansas City to face the Chiefs on Sunday. New York is home to approximately 20 million people, and New York City alone has 8.4 million residents. In the fiscal 2023 budget, the state expects $357 million as the state has a 51 percent revenue tax rate.
