New York Sports Betting Gets More Than 17 Million Online Transactions in First Two Days

The first weekend of New York mobile sports betting saw massive participation statewide, with 17.2 million transactions over two days since the Saturday morning launch, according to a geolocation company.

In New York City’s five boroughs alone, the volume exceeded 8 million, according to Lindsay Slader, GeoComply’s marketing director. The Vancouver-based company provides geolocation compliance and fraud-security services.

New York City Numbers Larger Than Any State

The New York City figures were “larger than any other standalone state total” in the nation, she said.

The mobile sports betting volume in New York shows no signs of slowing down, especially with major football games slated this week, beginning Monday night with the College Football Playoff National Championship in Indianapolis between SEC rivals Alabama and Georgia.

Alabama was a 2.5-point underdog early Monday, according to Caesars Sportsbook New York.

In addition, the NFL playoffs start with wild card games on Saturday, culminating with the Super Bowl on Feb. 13.

The one New York NFL team to make the playoffs this year, the Buffalo Bills, face their AFC North rivals New England Patriots Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET. Buffalo opened as a 4.5-point favorite, according to Caesars.

New York Now Nation’s Biggest Mobile Wagering State

Once mobile betting began last Saturday, New York became the largest state to offer online wagering in terms of population size.

Sports betting sites are illegal in the three most-populous states — California, Texas and Florida.

The Empire State is home to about 20 million residents. That total includes the more than eight million people who live in New York City, the nation’s largest city.

Next door in New Jersey, an estimated 20% of its tops-in-the-nation monthly sports-wagering handle has come from New Yorkers crossing the state line to use smartphones in placing sports bets. According to the Seeking Alpha website, analysts expect many of these bettors to remain in New York now when wagering on sports.

“In terms of implications for the industry, New York is likely to quickly become the largest regulated market in the U.S.,” said Will Hershey of Roundhill Investments. “We should also expect New Jersey's monthly figures to decrease (perhaps as much as 20 to 25%), as New Yorkers will no longer travel across the border to place wagers.”

Four Online Bookmakers Kick Off New York Mobile Betting

At 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, four New York betting apps became available. The four are Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetRivers.

The state Gaming Commission will allow five more online sportsbooks to begin operating in the state as soon as those companies have met statutory and regulatory requirements. These five are BallyBet, BetMGM, WynnBet, PointsBet and Genting’s Resorts World.

Gaming officials said the five additional online bookmakers would be given the OK to operate on a “rolling basis” as soon as they are approved.

Saturday Startup Scores Huge Numbers

The Saturday launch in New York was a “fast and furious start,” Slader said.

In just 12 hours, New York became “the top state for sports betting in the U.S,” she wrote on her LinkedIn page. “A launch this size is historically unprecedented, with volumes eclipsing the second closest ranked state, (Pennsylvania), by approximately 2.5 times.”

Slader listed the “geolocation transaction volumes ranked by state” on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. They were:

• New York: 5.8 million
• Pennsylvania: 2.3 million
• New Jersey: 2.1 million
• Michigan: 1.6 million
• Illinois: 1.1 million
• Arizona: 1 million

Analysts See Huge Potential In Empire State

By 2025, the New York betting market could see revenue of over $1.1billion, according to Vixio Gambling Compliance. The revenue totals this year alone could reach $667 million.

The Seeking Alpha website noted that early data from New York showed a strong interest in the first four mobile operators, even with Caesars experiencing “an outage with its sports betting app on day one of legal bets.”

“Despite the high tax rate (of 51%) in the state, point spreads and odds were consistent in New York with other betting states during the opening weekend,” the website noted.

State Gave Thumbs Up to Mobile Betting Last Year

In New York, sports wagering began at on-site casino sportsbooks in 2019, but off-site mobile betting has been illegal.

In November, however, the Gaming Commission approved nine online bookmakers to operate mobile sports betting across the state. The first four were given the green light to begin Saturday.

‘Perfect Timing’ to Launch in New York, FanDuel CEO Says

The launch was greeted enthusiastically in New York City, whose bettors previously were driving out of state to place mobile wagers or heading upstate a couple of hours to the New York casinos that have on-site sportsbooks with ticket windows.

As an example of that enthusiasm, the New York Post tabloid newspaper ran a large front-cover headline on Friday declaring, “All Bets Are On!”

On CNBC, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe called Saturday’s launch “perfect time” for NFL betting sites, thanks to the upcoming playoff games and the Super Bowl.