ALBANY — The four upstate casinos took in record revenue from sports wagering during the first week of the National Football League.

Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady brought in $346,682 after payouts to winners and before taxes in the week leading up to Sept. 8, which was twice the record set during opening week of the sports book in the middle of July, according to filings with the state Gaming Commission.

The increased revenue would have been easy to project based on the crowd at the casino's 5,000-square-foot lounge for the first week of games, when lines of sports gamblers stretched more than 50 deep an hour before kickoff.

Rivers, which was the first New York casino to open its sports book, led the three other commercial casinos in gross gaming revenue for the first week of the NFL.

The del Lago Resort and Casino in western New York brought in $263,842 in gross revenue from sports wagering that week; Resorts World Catskills in the Hudson Valley collected $185,424, and Tioga Downs Casino hit $106,646.

Even with the growth in sports wagering, it still represents a small portion of the business at the upstate casinos. For instance, sports wagering accounted for less than 10 percent of the gross gaming revenue for Rivers in week one of the NFL.

But there is a boost from the sports wagering influx, as Rivers set a 2019 record of $3.77 million in gross gaming revenue for the week.

The revenue figures from week two of the NFL should be available later this week

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Start-of-football-drives-sports-gambling-increase-14443912.php