As bettors wait for New York sports betting to go live, the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) on Friday released August sports betting figures for its four upstate retail casinos.
The news wasn’t good as August handle was $9.15 million, down 2% from July’s $9.33 million. Most states that have been reporting August numbers have seen increases.
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Rivers Casino in Schenectady led the way with $4.3 million in August sports betting handle. Del Lago Casino in Waterloo came in second with $2.89 million, Resorts World Catskills in Monticello rounded out the top three with $1.41 million and Tioga Downs Casino in Nichols finished fourth with just $546,471.
New York Sports Betting, August vs. July
| Handle | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|
| August | $9.154M | $1.080M |
| July | $9.338M | $1.274M |
| Change | Down 2.0% | Down 15.2% |
Revenue Also Lags
August revenue for all four casinos just barely broke the $1 million mark at $1.08 million, down a significant 15.2% from July’s $1.2 million.
Rivers again led the way with $464,164 in revenue, Resorts World came in second at $303,904, Del Lago posted a mark of $260,764 and Tioga Downs just cracked $50K at $51,739.
Numbers should increase for all four of the state’s retail sportsbooks now that the NFL regular season is in its second week and college football is in the midst of its third week of play.
Mobile Betting on the Way
With the state in dire need of greater cash flow because of the pandemic, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April legalized mobile betting through its inclusion in a $212 billion state budget. Cuomo expected state revenue from mobile betting to eventually reach $500 million.
The state has solicited bids for potential mobile sports betting partners, a list that includes FanDuel NY Sportsbook, Bally’s, BetMGM NY Sportsbook , DraftKings NY Sportsbook, the Seneca Nation, the Buffalo Bills, the Buffalo Sabres, Major League Soccer’s NYCFC, the New York Yankees and the YES Network.
The state gaming commission is reviewing all bids and told EmpireStakes.com in early September that oral presentations did not have to be made by the applicants. The state hopes to makes selections for operators by Dec. 6.
New York State legislators, under interim Gov. Kathy Hochul, hope to see mobile sports betting go live in early 2022, just in time for the Super Bowl on Feb. 13.
