2 Year Anniversary Of Sports Betting In New York Explored

New York launched its first sportsbook in 2019.
Mobile betting is finally on its way to launch in New York.
New York could become one of the top sports betting markets.

ALBANY, N.Y. – It has now been two years since the first wagers were placed at the first sportsbook in New York.

The Empire State has seen a lot of success with sorts betting despite the lack of mobile betting options. This may change, however, as mobile betting is more likely to launch than ever before.

Sports betting in New York is already a major market but could become the biggest in the nation. Even after two years, the market has continued to see growth.

New York Sports Betting

The first wager was placed at the Rivers Sportsbook in Schenectady as local Mayor Gary McCarthy wagered on the Boston Red Sox.

Sports betting in New York was immediately successful out the gate. Multiple big-name entities worked to launch retail operations in New York. FanDuel, Caesars Sports, DraftKings, and Rivers Sportsbook all host their own local sports betting operations.

The market has also seen local sports teams partner with major betting entities as well, showing how sports and sports betting in New York have come together seamlessly.

During the two years legal sports betting has been active in NY, the state saw the likes of the New York Knicks partner with DraftKings, the Brooklyn Nets partner with Betway, and the New York Jets partner with BetMGM.

These are just a few of the deals NY has seen in its young sports betting life. These partnerships range from promotional deals to market access partnerships and analytics sharing.

While sports betting has thrived in New York, the one thing lacking over these last two years has been mobile betting. That, however, will soon change.

Mobile Betting In New York

New York has long been opposed to bringing mobile sports betting to its legislation, but now lawmakers have made a 180.

“I was not favorably inclined in the past. But I’m open to mobile sports betting now because of the economic environment we’re in,” said Tom Abinanti, a New York Assemblyman. “New Jersey is doing well with it. New Jersey is taking money from New Yorkers.”

One of the biggest motivators to the change was the losses in revenue that New York suffered during COVID-19. Meanwhile, across the bridge in New Jersey, the mobile market continued to thrive.

New York compares the revenue numbers in NJ and realized how much they could potentially make from their own market, leading to laws passing in legislative sessions.

Gover Andrew Cuomo, one of the biggest opponents to mobile betting, also began opening up to the potential market. He even went as far as to include mobile sports betting revenue during his fiscal year session.

Presenting my Fiscal Year 2022 Executive Budget. Watch live: https://t.co/ohJa3H2tdO

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 19, 2021

Studies have shown that NY stands to make upwards of $100 million in revenue annually from adding mobile betting regulations. New York could potentially challenge New Jersey as the largest sports betting market in the country.

After two years of success, New York stands to see its largest growth moving forward.

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Giovanni Shorter

Coming from a background in narrative-based writing, Giovanni strives to write stories that will keep the reader engaged. Although he does pride himself in being accurate, how the story is told is also very important to him. When he’s not keeping readers up to date on sports betting laws and legislation, you can find him writing and recording music, playing videogames, or engaged in heated sports debates with his friends.