LSB Feature: The Impact Mobile NY Sports Betting Will Have

New York is finally considering regulating mobile and online sports betting.
Markets like New Jersey and Pennsylvania benefit from NY bettors traveling to bet on sports online.
New Jersey saw over $996 million in sports betting activity last month.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Local New York sports bettors may soon be able to bet on sports online as lawmakers change their tune about launching mobile betting in the state.

As New York has historically been opposed to mobile sports betting, markets like New Jersey and Pennsylvania have benefited greatly from local New York sports bettors crossing state lines to wager.

These markets stand to lose a lot of regular wagers once New York launches mobile betting. But how much of a loss would they see?

New York Embraces Mobile Betting

New York has historically been opposed to mobile sports betting since its launch. In the past, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has been adamantly opposed to mobile betting.

Because of this, New York, despite being one of the more populated states, has lost out in sports betting revenue consistently to states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.

However, with the losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers are more open to the thought of bringing mobile betting, with Gov. Cuomo even changing his tune, now being open to mobile betting in New York.

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

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 19, 2021

Legislators have pushed forth bills two sports betting bills that have been approved by the Senate Committee to move on to the next stage.

This is the furthest a bill to bring mobile sports betting to the Empire State has made it. This shows a good sign for the ultimate passing of the bills.

While this is a major win for New York sports bettors, other markets who profit from displaced NY bettors looking for mobile sports betting are sure to see a major decrease in betting activity.

New Jersey And Pennsylvania Betting Markets

Starting in New Jersey, the Garden State has continued to break records in sports betting, with the bulk of thei revenue coming from mobile wagers.

December saw this accumulate to their biggest single wager month, with a betting handle of $996,300,794 per the NJ gambling revenue report.

Online wagers accounted for $929,331,841 of the total betting activity, showing that mobile betting is the primary way sports bettors in New Jersey bet on sports.

Part of this comes from New York bettors who travel across the bridge. Since New York doesn’t have mobile betting, it is in many ways easier for NY bettors to drive across the bridge, bet on their favorite team, and then drive back.

Pennsylvania sees the same benefit. While not as big as New Jersey, most of Pennsylvania’s sports betting comes from mobile and online betting.

While exact figures are hard to predict, neither market is expected to see the same numbers. New Jersey in particular has been the number one in sports betting for some time. Without the New York bettors crossing over, who will take the reign?

The Leader In Sports Betting

Since New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will more or less benefit from their own local bettors as they are in close proximity to one another, Nevada should return to be the nation’s leader in sports betting activity.

Nevada has one of the oldest sports betting markets out there. They have a strong gambling base, and has seen over $2 billion in wagers from mobile betting alone in 2020.

In addition, Nevada benefits from sports bettors from California, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho who do not have their own legal sports betting markets.

In terms of overall markets, Nevada sits second behind New Jersey for overall betting activity. The Silver state benefits from having Las Vegas, the Gambling Capital of the Country, as one of its biggest cities.

There is also a strong sports fan base both in Nevada and in the surrounding states. California is home to the LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings, LA Dodgers, and much more. Arizona is home to the Arizona Cardinals, and the Las Vegas Raiders are in Nevada.

Strong sports ban basis tend to bet on sports heavily, which also leans in Nevada’s favor. When it comes to legal sports betting, Nevada should easily become the hub of betting once New Jersey loses the New York mobile betting scene.

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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.