Governor Kathy Hochul made an initial estimate of the mobile sports betting program in New York State.
In short, in less than six months, gaming-related tax revenues have greatly exceeded any other state.
In fact, according to the official report, New York State has gained well over $302 million in tax revenue from mobile sports betting since 8th January 2022.
In addition, since 7th July, Bally Bet – the ninth and final operator in New York State – has also been authorized to accept bets, making the bookmaker landscape even richer.
According to Hochul, in six months alone, New York has taken a leading position with the implementation of smart bookmaking policies generating hundreds of millions of dollars of profit for projects that improve the lives of all New Yorkers.
In fact, during the period under review, New York State derived $302.3 million in tax revenue from mobile sports gambling.
GeoComply – a software company that deals with geolocation services – estimated that nearly 3 million accounts with as many as 707 million transactions had been created since January.
Tax revenues from mobile sports betting in New York State will fund education in sports and prevention
The entire amount collected from wagering activities will be used to fund education, youth sports, and responsible wagering projects.
Specifically, for 2023, mobile sports playing revenues will be divided as follows:
- $5 million to sports programs for disadvantaged youth;
- $6 million for education and treatment of problem playing;
- the remainder will be used for education.
New York – according to official figures – has collected more revenue from mobile sports betting in just six months than any other state in several years. Even when combining mobile and traditional wagering.
The smart plan to invest these tax revenues in education, youth sports programming, and the service of prevention projects seems to be a winning move.
Although in January, New York State had budgeted $249 million in tax revenue for mobile sports betting, the total takings amounted to $361 million. And in April 2023, the revenue forecast is around $357 million. But in 2024, they are set to increase to $493 million, rising to $518 million by 2027.
With the arrival of mobile sports gambling, both the New York State Gaming Commission, and partners in the Responsible Play Partnership, have committed to information and awareness-raising events to promote responsible gaming.
Robert Williams – Executive Director of the New York State Gaming Commission – showed his satisfaction with Governor Hochul’s work in bringing New York State to a leading position in sports bookmaking in such a short time.
The Commissioner of the New York State Office of Dependency Services and Support –
Chinazo Cunningham – showed his enthusiasm. For him, it is plausible a positive impact of gaming revenue on the expansion of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services for problem gambling.
These are additional financial resources that will allow OASAS to increase its commitment and relevance to combating problem gambling to reach even more people in all areas of New York State.
The positive balance of the first six months
New York not only used tax revenues from mobile sports bookmaking to benefit projects related to elementary and secondary education. They are subsidizing youth sports programs, prevention treatment, and recovery, and they also raised an additional $25 million in license fees. The money paid by these eight providers of mobile sports bookmaking portals secured another $200 million for the state, all of which was earmarked for education.
Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. – state senator – is convinced that the key to this success lies in the quality of the mobile sports bookmaking offered to users.
Plus, the addition of Bally Bet – the ninth largest operator on the New York scene – will bring even more competition to an already growing market.
The NYS Gaming Commission is responsible for publishing the weekly mobile sports gambling reports of each market operator every Friday.
According to the Commission’s regulations, it is the duty of bookmakers to provide preventive measures to contrast underage betting, to give gamblers the opportunity to set spending limits, and to provide information on gaming risks and problem wagering.
