New York Sees Record Sports Betting Revenue of $3.57M in January

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has expressed his desire to enact mobile sports wagering, generating excitement for the New York sports betting market. The current market only features retail sports betting, but New York is still setting records despite not having mobile betting.

The January Numbers

New York legalized retail sports betting in July of 2019. For over a year, sports betting has been occurring in the state, and NY just set a new financial record. There are four commercial sportsbooks in New York, and three properties set individual records in January.

The four books combined to generate $3.57 million in gross gaming revenue. In December of 2020, the four books only produced $2.3 million, so this was a significant month to month increase. The New York budget is at a deficit of $15 billion, so this revenue spike is promising. It also should allow mobile sports betting to gain traction in the state legislature.

There are still disagreements between Governor Cuomo and state officials over New York mobile sports betting’s future framework. There will need to be compromises made to ensure that online sports betting launches soon in New York.

Rivers Sportsbook Takes the Top Spot

Rivers Casino generated the most revenue in January compared to the state’s other three commercial casinos. Del Lago Casino and Tioga Downs Casino experienced record revenue months, but they fell short of Rivers. Resorts World Catskills had its second-best month since they launched retail sports betting.

Rivers’ previous monthly revenue record was just over $1 million in October of 2020. That record made sense because playoff baseball and basketball were occurring in addition to football. In January, Rivers shattered this previous best by generating $1.429 million. Del Lago Casino broke $1 million in revenue for the first time since sports betting was legalized. The sportsbook came in at $1.27 million in gross gaming revenue.

Resorts World Catskills came close to surpassing $500,000 in revenue. They came up $30,000 short of the total. Resorts World Catskills’ largest monthly total ever recorded was $506,380. Tioga Downs had the smallest figure, despite setting an individual betting record. The sportsbook produced $390,349 in gross gaming revenue, more than $40,000 higher than the book’s previous record.

Long Way to Go

New York’s commercial casinos may have set a collective record in January, but the state still has a long way to go before surpassing New Jersey. New Jersey recently beat Nevada for the largest sports betting economy in the United States.

New York’s revenue decreased close to 14% from November to December 2020. The January increase is positive, but the trend of the market in NY is still unclear. New Jersey’s 2020 sports betting handle was just over $6 billion. Only 8% of the total handle was wagered at retail sportsbooks. This statistic proves the importance of online betting.

New York has a massive state, but they will never escape New Jersey’s shadows if the state legislature does not legalize widespread mobile betting. In 2020, NJ collected $398 million in revenue.