Initial projections were that New York would reach astonishing numbers in sports betting handle during Super Bowl LVII, however, the state failed to deliver. According to official data from the New York State Gaming Commission, local sports bettors placed just over US$100 million in online and in-person wagers on the NFL championship game last Sunday.
New York’s mobile sports betting market opened on January 8, 2022, and the state quickly transformed into the top regulated jurisdiction for online sports wagers in the U.S. This led experts to believe that the largest sporting event on the continent will bring in massive numbers in handle and there were projections of US$150 million in volume, however, it failed to do so.
Numbers by Sportsbook
For the Super Bowl weekend, New York’s nine online sportsbooks handled a total of US$99.1 million in digital wagers, which translated to only US$1.1 million in gross gaming revenue and US$565,000 in tax revenue. FanDuel was the most active app among the operators, with US$$42,839,279.99 in betting handle which translated to US$763,335.82 in pre-tax proceeds.
As usual, DraftKings was in second place with a total handled wagers of US$28,056,336 and just US$337,663 in revenue. Caesars Sportsbook was a close third with a volume of US$19,720,156 and earnings of US$334,638. Then there was BetMGM who came in fourth in terms of handle and revenue. The sportsbook reported a total betting volume of US$5,394,514 and proceeds of US$157,872.
The fifth spot was reserved for BetRivers which managed to capture US$1,588,408 of the total Super Bowl wagering and reported just US$24,141 in gross proceeds. Then there is PointsBet which handled US$919,252 in online wagers and got US$72,671 in revenue. WynnBET clocked US$412,715 and US$65,221. While Resorts WorldBET and Bally Bet reported US$147,524 and US$19,932 in volume and US$31,298 and US$2,427 in proceeds respectively.
According to a recent report by GeoComply which is a geolocation verification provider, there were over 100 million geolocation checks across the country during the Super Bowl weekend. The Empire State was responsible for the largest part of them with 13.9 million from its passionate bettors. In addition to that, the state had the second most unique accounts created with 851,000, being only outperformed by Ohio.
In-Person Wagering Activity
Meanwhile, retail sports betting saw Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady handle the largest volume of bets with just over US$700,000. Next was del Lago Resort & Casino with US$358,000, followed by Resorts World Catskills with US$281,000, and Tioga Downs sportsbooks with just under $109,000. Land-based sportsbook generated a total handle of US$1.5 million in Super Bowl wagers.
It should be noted that the start of 2023 has been quite good for the Empire State’s four commercial casinos in the upstate region. According to reports from the NYSGC, the four non-tribal casinos have recorded a 12% increase in gambling revenue compared to January 2022. In total revenue from slots, retail sports betting, table games, and poker for January 2023 came to US$54.5 million.
