New York state has generated more than $267 million in tax revenues from mobile sports betting in the five months since it became legal, with $263 million coming from bets made on mobile devices and the rest coming from sports wagering at casinos.
Assemblyman Gary Pretlow of Mount Vernon, who is chairman of the Assembly Committee on Racing and Wagering, said, “Back in March, I was quoted as saying, ‘We are well on the way to being the sports betting capital of the world.’ Mobile sports betting is an economic engine for New York. I am ecstatic with the revenue that has been generated for education, youth sports and problem gambling.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul pointed out that the $267 million in five months represents far greater activity than has been seen in other states where sports-betting has been going on for much longer than in New York.
According to Hochul, since November 2018, Pennsylvania has collected $253 million in sports-betting revenues while New Jersey has generated $229 million since June 2018, far below the amount New York has taken in during just five months.
“In less than half a year, New York has become a leader among states in implementing successful gaming policies, with hundreds of millions of dollars going to important programs that will improve the lives of all New Yorkers,” Hochul said. “I am committed to upholding responsible and effective gaming policies that will move the industry forward and continue to drive our state’s economic growth.”
Tax revenues from mobile sports betting are allocated to help elementary and secondary education and also used to provide grants for youth sports programming, along with problem gambling prevention, treatment and recovery services.
In addition to taxes on betting activity, the state collects license fees from commercial operators of betting platforms. New York has collected $25 million in license fees from eight mobile sports wagering platform providers, totaling an additional $200 million to the state. All of the revenues from license fees have already been directed to education, according to Hochul’s office.
According to information from the betting software firm GeoComply, more than 2.7 million unique player accounts have been created for New York bettors since January. There have been more than 620 million transactions.
According to the New York State Gaming Commission, sports betting companies had gross gaming revenues (GGR) from the start of mobile sports betting in January through the week ending March 27, 2022, of $314,551,455. GGR is the amount of money the betting operators get to keep after winnings have been distributed. The GGR is taxed at 51%. According to the state, the handle, or amount of money bet by players from the time mobile sports betting got underway through the week ending March 27 was $4,682,379,757.
A report from BetMGM, the mobile sports betting operator that also is promoted by the MGM Empire City Casino in Yonkers, showed that for the month of April, 2022, BetMGM had a handle of $142,155,809 in New York that was bet by players and a GGR of $4,980,574. Based on the activity yielding gross gaming revenues to BetMGM of $4,980,574 for the month, $2,540,093 of the gross revenues went to the state.
The betting platform Fanduel Sportsbook for the week endeing May 22 reported a wagering handle of $114,113,943, with a GGR of $14,738,271, of which 51% went to New York state.
The platform Draftkings Sportsbook reported a handle of $64,150,552 during the week ending May 22, 2022, with a GGR of $3,696,934.
Also for the week ending May 22, Caesars Sportsbook had a handle of $40,617,910 with a GGR of $2,351,657, while Wynn Interactive recorded only $2,12,406 in bets with a GGR of $37,587. Resorts World had $1,490,378 in New York mobile sports betting activity, producing a GGR of $155,860.
State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., who is chairman of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said, “New Yorkers have proven that we were ready for sports betting, including its mobile component, and we are no longer the broken-down, wobbly-wheeled car in the right lane watching other states pass us by, but are now the shiny, revved-up sports car in left lane passing everyone else by. The fact that we have already surpassed all other states in revenue in less than six months is a testament to the quality of the dedicated work to provide a credible product for the residents of New York. I look forward to an even brighter future for sports betting, working towards realizing even more funding and jobs for our state through gaming.”