To the surprise of absolutely no one, regulated sports betting in New York State is off to a incredibly successful start. Over the course of the NY’s first weekend of legal sports betting, operators handled $150 million in wagers from more than 650,000 accounts.
The only people who won’t be celebrating this watershed moment in US gambling history are the sports betting operators in New Jersey, whose business will surely suffer now that the reverse bridge-and-tunnel crowd can wager from home.
Four operators, DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and Rush Street Interactive, shared in the opening weekend haul, though it’s unclear at this point how that $150 million broke down between them. These first four should enjoy this moment since five more regulated operators are licensed to serve to NY players and will be online soon.
With more than 21.5 million residents, New York is the fourth most-populated US state. That natural advantage leaves the Empire State with the potential to be the America’s largest regulated sports betting market.
What’s also unclear is how much New Jersey’s red-hot sports betting market will be impacted by the competition next door. So far, there’s been little discernible impact, but operators have reason to be concerned. New York’s sports betting plan is all-mobile, which eliminates the need to make a trip to Atlantic City for a wagering weekend.
GeoComply Managing Director of Gaming Lindsay Slader described NY’s first weekend success in an interview with Legal Sports Report saying, “The momentum of New York’s sports betting launch has continued and it is mostly home-grown. The vast majority of users are brand new to regulated sports betting in the U.S. The data tell us that New Yorkers are dumping illegal sportsbooks for the new legal options and operators are also excelling at attracting first-time bettors.”
Lawmakers in New York are estimating that regulated sports betting could bring in as much as $1 billion by the time it is completely mature.