New York Becomes Fastest US State to Cross a $1B Sports Handle

In a little over two weeks, New Yorkers are already showing the US sports betting scene why The Empire State is the greatest state in America. Upon launching a regulated online and mobile sports betting market, all other US states traditionally take a few months to see a billion-dollar lifetime handle. But that has not been the case for New York.

According to the New York State Gaming Commission, sports bettors smashed expectations after spending a whopping $1.176 billion in just 16 days. The Empire State unveiled its regulated online and mobile sports betting on January 8th, and by the 23rd, the handle had already crossed the ten-figure mark. Mind you; the 16-day billion-dollar handle doesn’t account for the NFC and AFC champions of the 2021-22 NFL season.

For the week ending on January 9th, New Yorkers wagered $171 million. A week later, the first week of the NFL playoffs ending January 16th, a 253% jump on betting activity with a $432 million handle brought the total volume of wagers to $603 million. During the second week of the playoffs, ending January 23rd, New York saw a $573 million handle. That’s $1.176 billion; what a performance!

The Ten-Figure Handle is No mean Feat

Let’s consider the previous figures in other states with some form of legal sports betting. Only two others, Nevada and New Jersey, have managed to surpass the $1 billion mark for the sports betting handle in a month, let alone two weeks.

New Jersey holds the current record of the largest handle in a month after sports bettors wagered a total of $1.3 billion in October 2021. On the other hand, Nevada saw its first billion-dollar handle in October 2021 to follow in New Jersey’s footsteps. It’s worth noting that The Garden State sports bettors broke the ten-figure milestone for the first time in September 2021 with a $1.01 billion handle before surpassing it in the next month.

Moreover, to put New York’s incredible performance into perspective, we should consider that it took 3 years of mobile sports betting in New Jersey for them to achieve a monthly billion-dollar handle. It has taken New York a record sixteen days to accomplish a similar fete. Such a performance already, and we’ve not even included the last seven days of January. It is fair to say that New Jersey’s record is sure to be shattered.

The most exciting thing about the figures coming out of New York is that we can almost be sure that these numbers will be bettered. Not that we’ve got a magical crystal ball or anything, but the fact that New York has produced these figures before the much-anticipated Super bowl, winter Olympics, and March Madness is impressive.

Based on the betting trends in other states, we know that betting numbers usually spike during this period as people strive to win off their favorite sporting spectacles. So, barring any underwhelming and unprecedented events, The Empire State will surely climb atop the US sports betting mountain.

Breaking Down the Numbers

As of now, there are six operational sportsbooks in the state of New York; Caesars, Fan Duel, DraftKings, Betrivers, BetMGM, and Pointsbet. In addition, Bally’s Wynn Bet and Resorts World all have conditional approval to launch their sportsbook but haven’t been fully cleared yet.

The report released by the New York State Gaming Commission captured 5 sportsbooks. Pointsbet, which hasn’t been featured in the latest report, was not fully operational by the time the report was prepared. Caesars continues its early reign of dominance, still topping the leaderboard for the third week running. It, however, remains to be seen whether the sportsbook can keep this streak up with the playing field surely getting more competitive in the coming weeks.

Here’s a sportsbook-by-sportsbook performance comparison according to the numbers announced by the New York Gaming Commission.

1. Caesars – Handle: $483.3m, GGR: $19.4m
2. FanDuel – Handle: $360m, GGR: $10.83m
3. DraftKings – Handle: $265.5m, GGR $10.04m
4. BetMGM – Handle: $40.6m, GGR: $2.5m
5. BetRivers – Handle: $22.2m, GGR: $787,797

Exciting Times Ahead for the Empire State

After approval back in 2013, retail betting paved the way for mobile sports betting in New York. Even though it took over a decade, partly because of the PASPA of 1992 hurdle, The Empire State’s online and mobile sports betting dream became a reality on January 8th this year. With New York being the largest state to approve mobile sports betting when we look at both population and GDP, it is no surprise that it is already doing so well.

As for the revenue, New York’s tax coffers will cash in big on the recently regulated activity. Owing to the 50% taxation rule, half of the sportsbook GGR will be going to the state coffers. For the first 16 days, the action has already won $45 million for the state, from a $90.6 million GGR.

Legislators also implemented an ambitious rule stating that 51% of the revenue collected by the online sportsbooks will be retained by retail casinos hosting them. The rule sparked controversy, especially because host casinos in states like New Jersey only take 13%, but it stuck.

New Yorkers love sports betting. That much has already been established by the performance so far, and thus, the numbers are likely to get even more impressive considering the upcoming sports schedule. With the Empire State in the ring now, there’s no doubt that industry records will come tumbling down in no time.

The previous post-PASPA record for the highest opening handle for a full month of activity was held by Arizona, which registered $486M worth of wagers in October 2021. Before that, Nevada was at the helm with the $286.5 million handle it garnered in June 2018. With New York smashing all debut records in barely two weeks, there’s no denying that it has a bright future in the sports betting industry. Here’s to hoping the momentum keeps soaring.