New York’s betting market reported a slight increase in revenue figures for the months of May.
According to the latest figures from the New York State Gaming Commission, commercial sportsbooks in the Empire State generated $1.6m in revenue in May.
Revenue for the month of May was up 23.1% month-on-month from the $1.3m generated in April 2021.
It is not possible to make year-on-year comparisons for the state’s sports betting market as New York’s four commercial casinos that offer sports betting were closed for the entire month of May 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year New York’s casinos were forced to close their doors to the public between March and September under measures introduced to halt the spread of coronavirus in the state.
New York’s casinos were permitted to reopen in September with some restrictions in place.
For the financial year to date, sportsbook revenue in New York for the two months ending May 2021 amounted to $2.9m.
The New York State Gaming Commission does not include sports betting handle in its reports, instead, it only displays sportsbook revenue. Sports betting revenue figures from tribal operators are not included in the report either.
How did each casino sportsbook perform?
When it comes to individual casino operators, Rush Street’s Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady led the market in May with $641,102 in sports betting revenue.
The del Lago Resort and Casino in Waterloo, which hosts a DraftKings-branded sportsbook, brought in $555,855 in revenue.
Meanwhile, Resorts World Catskills followed with $307,607 in betting revenue, which marked a major improvement on the $7,747 loss reported in April.
Tioga Downs Casino in the Fingerlakes, and its FanDuel-branded sportsbook, came in fourth place in May with $85,550 in sports betting revenue.
Sports betting in New York
The Empire State legalised land-based sports wagering through the 2013 New York Economic Gaming Act. The passage of this law allowed four upstate casinos in New York to offer sports betting if the federal law prohibiting the activity was amended or overturned.
New York launched legal and regulated sports betting in July 2019, with the opening of the sportsbook at the Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady.
In January, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, who once opposed the introduction of online gambling, announced his support for the legalisation of online sports betting as a means of bolstering the state budget.
New York’s economy was devastated by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and is looking to use revenue generated from legal betting to help the state’s financial recovery.
In March, the New York Assembly published its annual budget proposal which included provisions relating to mobile sports betting. Then in April, Cuomo won the debate over which online sports betting model to adopt, with legislative efforts reflecting a state-run sports betting model.
On 19 April, Cuomo signed the state budget into law, paving the way for legal mobile sports betting in the Empire State.
Although the state is currently restricted to land-based betting, online and mobile betting could launch in the state in time for the next Super Bowl.
