Getting New York to open up to sports betting has been quite the challenge. Many are lamenting the loss of income and access to sports betting to other states. It is, after all, easier to cross to New Jersey than drive upstate to a casino. Given that many gambling news analysts are saying that New York is missing out on revenue, why are we not seeing a healthy betting market in the state? Especially when New York sports betting could be a billion-dollar market on an annual basis.
A while back, many may not remember that the New York gaming commission conducted a study on sports betting. This happened while efforts to legalize sports betting was discouraged by no other than New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. But the result of the study is out, something any pay per head bookie could have told legislators: the potential is high. Billion dollar a yeah high.
New York Sports Betting Potential
The report that was conducted by Horsham, a gaming group, considered sports betting as well as mobile betting through the 3 gaming tribes and 4 commercial casinos. According to the report, the state could generate anywhere from $816 million to $1.14 billion in annual gross revenue each year. This report was supposed to be released in January 2019, then further extended to June 2020. The delay was to adjust the data to account for the pandemic and its effect to the New York market.
Now, Governor wants sports betting, perhaps due to the pandemic and the fiscal woes of the state. However, the Governor wants sports betting to be set up like the lottery. This model is not included in the study, so no estimates are available. Even more, this model is in use in another US state, but is not delivering the same results as other sports betting markets in the country. The biggest clue is in looking at payperhead sportsbooks. Online and mobile sports betting is taking a large percentage of the betting handle of all states that offer sports betting online. There are more sportsbooks available, thus helping the market become competitive and better for players. Now that the study is out, perhaps the Governor would me more inclined to opt for another model that will allow more access and a healthy betting market to New Yorkers.
