The historic start of NY Sports Betting Apps last Saturday means many things, including that monthly handle and revenue reports in the Empire State never will be the same moving forward.
With that said, upstate retail sportsbook numbers for December, along with year-end figures, were released on Thursday by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC).
The four New York retail sportsbooks had a very slight decrease in sports betting handle in December, coming in at $21.1 million, down 1.8% from November’s $21.5 million. The holiday month took a big hit in revenue, posting just $764,614, down 80.7% from November’s $3.95 million.
The four casinos — Rivers Casino in Schenectady ($10 million), Del Lago in Waterloo ($6.25 million), Resorts World Catskills in Monticello ($3.34 million) and Tioga Downs in Nichols ($1.52 million) — combined for $21.12 million in total sports handle in December.
New York Sports Betting, December vs. November
| Handle | Revenue (GGR) | |
|---|---|---|
| December | $21.130M | $0.765M |
| November | $21.519M | $3.956M |
| Change | Down 1.8% | Down 80.7% |
Both Rivers Casino and Del Lago had upticks in handle for December.
In October, Rivers Casino was the first of the four casinos to exceed $10 million in sports betting handle for one month ($11.9 million). The casino dropped to $9.9 million in November but achieved the $10 million mark last month once again.
Year-end revenue totals for the four came in at $15,550,810. However, handle figures from the NYSGC have only been available since April, so there is no way to accurately report full total handle for the year.
Mobile New York Sports Betting Off and Running
Last Saturday marked a historic day in New York wagering.
Just after 9 a.m., New Yorkers had the first opportunity to place mobile wagers over four sports betting platforms: Caesars Sportsbook NY, DraftKings NY, FanDuel New York and BetRivers NY.
The weekend launch was a booming success. By Sunday, 17.2 million bets were made, including more than 8 million from New York City’s five boroughs, according to numbers released by GeoComply, a geolocation company that issues metrics on the gaming industry. Close to 6 million transactions were made on Saturday, the first day of live operation.
More Operators Are on the Way
New York bettors are still anxiously awaiting five other mobile sports betting apps to launch, as nine operators were granted licenses on Nov. 8.
The remaining five: BetMGM New York, WynnBET NY, PointsBet, Bally Bet and Resorts World.
All five are continuing to work toward meeting statutory and regulatory requirements.
Once those requirements are met, the NYGSC will approve them to launch on a rolling basis.
When the remaining sportsbooks do go live, check out EmpireStakes.com to see updated New York sports betting offers from all of the operators.
