Mobile betting officially started in New York State last weekend and its debut was historic. Although official figures are yet to be revealed, data from GeoComply suggests that betting volumes recorded in New York during the first weekend of legal mobile betting have surpassed those from the neighboring states – Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
According to GeoComply spokesperson Lindsay Slader, New York’s newly launched online sportsbooks collected a handle of $5.8 million in the first 12 hours. In comparison, the first day of mobile betting in Pennsylvania saw the players make a total of $2.3 million worth of sports bets. Over in New Jersey, the total handle on day one was even lower, standing at $2.1 million.
We don't yet have full financial data, but based of geolocation transactions, New York will likely generate more tax revenue from its four legal online sportsbooks in their opening weekend than the state's retail books have made in their first two-and-a-half years of operation.
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) January 9, 2022
Further, the betting volume over the first weekend of mobile betting saw New Yorkers generate about $17.2 million in wagers. Almost half of the sum came from users based within the borders of New York City.
Competition to Get Even Bigger in the Future
The astronomic handle recorded by New York State mobile sportsbooks is even more impressive for the fact that only four betting apps made their debut last weekend – BetRivers, Caesars, FanDuel, and DraftKings.
Another five have received the operating license from the state officials. The sportsbooks in question are Bally Bet, BetMGM, Pointsbet, Resorts World, and WynnBet.
They’re all expected to launch in the next couple of weeks. In fact, the target date is set to be at least one week before the Super Bowl LV. The reason for this is that the NFL Championship game is traditionally the most popular sports event in the US.
American bettors seem to love football, proof coming from BetRivers New York. According to Rush Street Interactive, the corporation behind BetRivers, most of the wagers made last weekend were NFL wagers. The app took $970,381 worth of bets, with football bets making up more than 50%. In fact, New Yorkers placed about $500,000 on football bets at BetRivers alone.
