It appears that legal sports betting in New York is going better than ever. A little more than two years after New York sports betting launched in January 2022, the Empire State reported its best week ever. According to the New York Gaming Commission, sportsbooks that operate in New York took in $70.9 million in revenue during the week that ended on May 12. That topped the previous record by roughly $4 million set earlier this year in January.
Keep in mind that the $70.9 million in revenue reported by New York’s sportsbooks came from the $532.3 million handled during that record-setting week. It was the third-biggest week for New York according to that metric since January 2022. With New York State’s gaming tax set at 51%, the state government took in $36 million in revenue in a single week, setting another record.
The fact that New York sports betting brought in such massive revenue during the NFL’s offseason makes this record even more impressive. The biggest reason for the boom in sports betting in New York during the record-setting week was the presence of the New York Rangers in the NHL playoffs and the New York Knicks in the NBA playoffs. While the Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Indiana Pacers. Fans in New York betting in favor of the Knicks surely contributed to the revenue generated by sportsbooks.
For the Week ending on May 12, five separate sportsbooks took in at least $1 million in revenue with BetRivers falling $40,000 short of making it six. DraftKings was the biggest winner of the week, generating $36.5 million in New York State. That set the Empire State’s record for revenue by a single sportsbook in a week, breaking FanDuel’s record of $33.4 million set this past January.
The bottom line is that outside of the Knicks losing their series to the Pacers, everything is going well for sports betting in the Empire State. More than two years after mobile betting became legal, sportsbooks are making big profits, which is leading to more tax revenue for the state government. In that sense, just about everyone’s a winner with New York sports betting.
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