new york

New York’s Sports Betting Revenue Tops the List

Empire State. It seems like the venture paid out, because New York is currently leading the country in revenue from sports betting. We’ll discuss this success story in today’s article and we’ll give you the New York betting site rankings.

Legalization Process and Regulations

There’s a reason why you started to hear about sports betting legalization efforts; it’s all thanks to the Supreme Court, which made this possible. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down PASPA (The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992), which previously banned sports betting on a federal level.

The Supreme Court decision thus allowed for individual states to regulate their own industries and thirty states have legalized sports betting so far. New York first legalized in-person betting in 2019, and followed up with legalization of online sports betting shortly after.

New York betting sites officially went live on January 8, 2022 and they immediately generated tons of traffic.

Sports betting in New York came with a big price tag for online bookmakers though. The state imposed a 51% tax on sports betting, the highest in the country, followed only by Pennsylvania with its 36% betting tax, which looks tiny in comparison.

Highest Tax Revenue in the Country

This massive tax might explain why New York is currently leading the nation in revenue generated by sports betting. There is, however, a lot of interest in sports betting, and after all, it’s the punters who are “to blame” for these impressive numbers.

Governor Kathy Hochul, who is hoping to get re-elected this November, recently gave us a quick run-down of the generated revenue. New York State is projected to make $249 million in tax revenue for fiscal year 2022, which is a generous projection, but it was far from reality.

New York State has so far generated $302.3 million in tax revenue from online sports betting alone, and the fiscal year hasn’t even ended yet. Since she gave this interview in early July, the state has added another $41.7 million to its coffers. The gambling licenses alone added $200 million to New York’s treasury.

You might think this number is impressive on its own, but let us give you some perspective.

Pennsylvania, the state with the second-highest tax on betting in the country, has collected $265.6 million from sports betting (in-person and online) since 2018. Thus, New York has made more money in a few months than Pennsylvania has made in nearly four years.

Hochul praised her state for this incredible success. She believes this tax model will allow New York State to finance very important projects. Some of the tax revenue from sports betting goes towards gambling addiction prevention programs ($6 million) and sports programs for underserved youth ($5 million), while the rest is allocated to education.

New York State now projects tax revenue of $357 million in fiscal year 2023, $465 million in 2024, $493 million in 2025, $509 million in 2026, and $518 million in 2027. Add this to the revenue from the now legal retail cannabis industry, and you’ll see that New York is doing very well indeed.

Sports Betting Operators

Before you head out to one of the NY online sportsbooks, let us remind you of the betting conditions. You have to be physically present in the state (each betting site has a geolocator) and be above the age of 21 to place your wagers. You don’t have to be a New York resident to bet.

Due to the tight regulations imposed by the New York State Gaming Commission, some online operators couldn’t go live in January. Luckily, all nine online sportsbooks that had applied for licenses have since had these licensed granted and are now fully operational.

Here are the nine legal online betting sites in the State of New York:

  • DraftKings
  • BetRivers
  • PointsBet
  • Caesars
  • BetMGM
  • FanDuel
  • WynnBet
  • Resorts WorldBet
  • Bally Bet

All of these operators are fully legal and they have many sports betting options to choose from. Of course, they come with their unique advantages and disadvantages, so make sure you research them properly before you open an account. You should look out for things like RTP rate, odds quality, sports selection, and of course – bonuses.