In first month, New York sets record for the amount bet on sports, and tax revenues, too
Move over New Jersey. New York is now the king of sports betting.
In the first month of legal online sports betting in New York, bettors placed more than $1.6 billion in wagers on the outcomes of games and related propositions, according to the State Gaming Commission. That beat the old record “handle” of $1.3 billion set by New Jersey bettors in October.
And it wasn’t even exactly a full month: New York didn’t launch online betting until Saturday, Jan. 8 and the State Gaming Commission calculated the numbers through Jan. 30. But that period coincided with the end of the NFL regular season and the playoffs that determined who will play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13.
“New York supplanting New Jersey as the nation’s largest sports betting market was inevitable, but few thought it would take only three weeks,” said Mike Mazzeo, lead analyst at PlayNY.com, which offer news and insights about the gaming industry. “Betting should calm some once football season ends and operators slow their promotional spending. Still, it’s clear that New York is going to be the flagship sports betting market in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.”
That’s not all. Since New York has by far the highest tax rate on sports betting revenues in the country, it blew away the previous record for tax receipts in one month.
New York state earned $57.6 million in taxes on the revenues earned by sports betting operators in January. That’s more than double the previous record set by Pennsylvania in November. New York’s tax rate on sports betting revenues is 51%, while Pennsylvania has the second highest rate at 36%.