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Mobile sports betting is now legal and live in the Empire State. DraftKings, FanDuel, Rush Street Interactive, and Caesars could launch their sportsbooks on January 8, 2022, after they received permission from the New York State Gaming Commission to offer their mobile services.
New York is the Biggest State to Legalize Betting
With this decision, the state with the fourth highest population became the biggest one to make sports betting legal. New York has a hefty gambling tax – 51% – so operators can’t expect immediate cash flow exactly. In comparison, New Jersey’s tax rate is just 13%. New York is not likely to replace the garden state as the biggest generator of gaming revenue in the country in the next two years.
Empire Resorts, Bally Bet, WynnBet, BetMGM, and PointsBet have online licenses to offer sports betting in New York, but they haven’t passed regulatory and legal requirements to go live.
NFL Fans With Instant Opportunity
NFL fans in New York can now download apps and start making bets on the most popular US sport for wagering. DraftKings, FanDuel, Rush Street Interactive, and Caesars Sportsbook can accumulate New York gamblers with promotions.
History of NY Sports Betting
State lawmakers had been trying to reach an agreement on sports betting for several years until a breakthrough in April of last year. In 2013, a law allowing in-person sports wagering was adopted. Legislators accepted a regulatory framework for physical locations six years later.
Eventually, the state governor at the time signed a budget agreement into law, of which provisions to bring mobile betting to New York were part. This law also established the state’s Gaming Commission as the authority supervising any and all mobile betting. The deadline to receive applications from operators was set for July 1. Over a week after it had expired, the Gaming Commission issued a request to receive applications to choose providers of sports betting services in the state. Releasing a request to receive applications ushers in the application process, which was marked by strong competition.
The Gaming Commission convened and recommended a number of bookmakers to receive mobile sports betting licenses on November 8, 2021. They chose nine operators after the lengthy rulemaking procedure and the market was officially launched for betting.
Sports Betting Grows
In December 2021, almost 30 states had legalized sports betting. A number of them only permit in-person bets. DraftKings and FanDuel are the early leaders in the mobile sports betting market. However, revenue figures remain unimpressive.
In 2021, total sports betting revenue was estimated at just over $3 billion, about a fifth of which came from New Jersey. This state made mobile sports wagering legal back in 2018.
As states such as Texas and California get ready to vote on online sports betting, investors are counting on a market surge. Optimists predict the growth of national gambling revenue to as much as $17 billion in the next five years.
Vain Hopes?
New York’s huge tax on gambling and excessive marketing budgets have eroded some of the appeal for investors. In 2021, PointsBet and DraftKings shares shed almost two-thirds of their value.
It is costing gambling operators hundreds of millions to attract clients, with so many of them offering practically identical mobile sports betting products. CNBC reported that a media executive had predicted the impending bankruptcy of a major sports gambling operator due to the high costs of customer acquisition and the cutthroat competition. It would be either bankruptcy or a selloff for cheap.
Flutter, a gambling operator based in the UK, is considering taking major industry player FanDuel public across the ocean. Progress has been delayed by an ongoing legal dispute with Fox Sports over ownership.
