After the dropdown in New York’s mobile sports betting in February 2023, March Madness revitalized the market and provided a busy month for wagering. According to the New York State Gaming Commission, in March local sports punters placed over US$1.7 billion in wagers, which was just US$3 million short of the highest monthly volume for the local sector.
Mobile sports betting is legal in New York State since January 8, 2022, when the state officially commenced operations of its legal market. A total of nine operators are allowed to offer and accept wagers on various sporting events from all around the world. The nine apps are FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM, BetRivers, WynnBET, Resorts World Bet, and Bally Bet.
March Was a Busy Month for Operators
As mentioned, March Madness provided a much-need revitalization of the market, which saw volume dry up after the Super Bowl in February. According to the latest numbers, in March 2023, local bettors placed US$1,785,952,977 in total wagering handle throughout the month. This was only US$3 million short of the highest monthly volume of US$1,788,991,455 in January 2023.
It should be also mentioned that it has become a common occurrence for the Empire State market to outperform its previous all-time high on the monthly scale. Mobile sports betting has now exceeded US$1 billion in wagering volume for the 13th time in 15 months. It was also the eighth instance that the state clocked US$1.5 billion, with five of them coming in the last six months.
For the month of March, the nine sportsbooks brought in US$162.8 million in gross gaming revenue, which taxed 51% transformed into US$83 million in tax revenue. Meanwhile, FanDuel was the top-performing operator for the month with just over US$740 million in handled wagers, which was a new record for the industry for a sportsbook with the highest betting total for a single month.
But the sportsbook also had its second-best month in terms of gross gaming revenue with almost US$80 million. In the meantime, DraftKings was again the second-best app with handled bets of around US$590 million and US$52 million in revenue. Caesars Sportsbook was third with U$237 million and just over US$15 million in gross gaming revenue for March.
However, the latest weekly mobile sports betting volume picture paints a different story. On Thursday, the NYSGC issued its latest weekly report on the market which applied to the week ending on April 2, 2023. For the said week, the nine apps recorded a betting handle of just US$339.9 million. Again, lower than the prior week’s total numbers.
Protecting Local Bettors
But with the major success of the state’s online sports wagering market, some lawmakers remain cautious about its potential impact on locals. In January, democrats Luis R. Sepúlveda and Leroy Comrie introduced Bill S1550, which if passed, would regulate all gambling ads in the state coming with warnings about the possible negative effects of online betting.
