The Empire State blew past New Jersey in January to seize the market lead, taking over $1.6 billion worth of sports bets, according to figures released Friday by the New York State Gaming Commission. That’s $300 million better than the best month that New Jersey ever had.

And those numbers are only going to go up. WynnBET just began taking bets in New York on Friday, and BallyBet has yet to begin operating in the state.
The new figures show that mobile sports betting brought in $1.62 billion in New York between its launch Jan. 9 and the week ending Jan. 30. In-person sports betting at four upstate casinos added close to another $15 million, bringing the monthly total to $1.64 billion.

New Jersey, which had led the nation in terms of the amount of sports bets its casinos and horse tracks took, had its best month in October 2021, when it took $1.3 billion in bets. New Jersey’s figures for January 2022 will be released Feb. 16.

“This is great,” said New York state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., one of his state’s leading proponents of mobile sports betting. “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.”

Kevin Hennessy, a spokesperson for FanDuel, said the company knew New York would be a strong market.

“Legal sports betting in New York has exceeded all of our expectations,” he said. “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.”

He said the Buffalo Bills playoff run generated heavy interest, and noted that the Winter Olympics, the NHL All-Star Game and the Super Bowl are all imminent.
New York’s mobile sports betting operators earned nearly $113 million in revenue on the $1.62 billion in bets they handled after paying off winners and other expenses. That revenue is taxed at 51% in New York.

Caesars is the early leader in New York, handling over $615 million worth of bets in its first four weeks and generating nearly $56 million in revenue. FanDuel took nearly $502 million in bets, generating $23.6 million in revenue.

DrafkKings took $367 million in bets, generating $27 million in revenue; BetMGM took $78 million in bets with $3.2 million in revenue; Rush Street Interactive took $32 million in bets and generated $837,035 in revenue; and PointsBet took $29 million in bets, generating $2.3 million in revenue.

That New York became the No. 1 market for sports betting once it allowed people to bet via cell phones or computers was not a surprise. New York’s population of over 19 million people is much greater than New Jersey’s population of under 9 million.

New York allowed New Jersey to race to an early lead in sports betting by its refusal to immediately allow mobile wagering. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for years insisted that allowing mobile betting would violate the state’s constitution, but New York permitted it beginning Jan. 9 of this year.

By Wayne Parry