According to the latest numbers of the New York State Gaming Commission, Super Bowl LVII has brought back the volume in online sports betting wagers. The newest report by the regulator has confirmed that during the week ending on February 12, 2023, locals have placed over US$424.3 million in online bets or 28% more than the prior week.
At the start of 2023, the Empire State celebrated its one-year anniversary since the opening of its mobile sports wagering market, which is now one of the leading ones in the U.S. It operates under a limited operator model which allows for only nine operators, who for the first year brought just over US$700 million in tax revenue for the state’s budget.
Super Bowl Brings the Volume
On Friday, the New York State Gaming Commission issued its report on the market for the week concluding on February 12, 2023, during which came the game for the NFL championship. For the Super Bowl week, New Yorkers placed a total of US$424.3 million in online bets. This was a solid improvement of 28% on the prior week’s volume of US$331 million in handle.
However, the same cannot be said about gross gaming revenue for the week of February 12, 2023. For the said week, revenue dropped to just US$12 million, which was approximately a hold of 2.8% for mobile sportsbooks. In comparison, gross proceeds and win rate for the prior week of February 5 were US$41.2 million and 12.4% respectively.
Meanwhile, there were no surprises in terms of operators’ performances for the week of February 12, 2023. Locally-based FanDuel again led the charts, as the sportsbook registered the highest wagering activity and handled over US$165.4 million of the total bets. And due to the low hold for the week, this transformed into just US$9.2 million in gross gaming proceeds.
To no one’s surprise, DraftKings was again second with a total wagering handle of just above US$150 million in bets and a mere US$2.9 million in receipts for the week. In the meantime, Caesars Sportsbook also kept its customary third spot, and the company reported a wagering volume of US$58.9 million. However, it also informed of US$1.3 million in a loss for the week.
Failure to Reach Projections
Despite the bump in online sports wagering during Super Bowl weekend, the Empire State failed to meet the initial projections for total wagering during the major game. Experts from PlayNY predicted that the volume would be around US$150 million, however, it was just above US$100 million in both digital sportsbooks and retail sports wagering in the four commercial casinos.
It should be also mentioned that the current tax rate of 51% for online sportsbooks, could be the bearer of bad news for local sports bettors. Some of the operators who asked the state to lower the rate, warn sports fans that due to this fact might feel obligated to pump up the odds for sports betting wagers in the state.
