New York online sports betting has been a rousing early success. According to GeoComply, since the online sports betting industry launched in the state on January 8, New Yorkers have:
- created 1.2 million sports betting accounts
- nade 17.9 million sportsbook transactions
These numbers from GeoComply — a company whose technology helps sportsbooks track their customers — show what happens when a sports betting market as large as New York goes live. With a population of about 20 million people, New York has many potential bettors who can generate large sums of revenue for sportsbooks and the state.
New York has also seen early success in one of state Senator Joe Addabbo’s goals: drawing bettors away from the illegal sports betting market, GeoComply believes.
“The momentum of New York’s sports betting launch has continued and it is mostly home-grown,” Lindsay Slader, Managing Director of Gaming at GeoComply, said in a press release. “The vast majority of users are brand new to regulated sports betting in the U.S. The data tell us that New Yorkers are dumping illegal sportsbooks for the new legal options and operators are also excelling at attracting first-time bettors.”
New York Sports Bettors At A Glance
According to GeoComply, 87.8% of New York bettors are new users who have never been seen in GeoComply’s systems. That means they’re likely first-time users of regulated sportsbooks.
New Yorkers, though, at least over the first two weekends of legal betting, are mostly sticking to one or two mobile sportsbook apps. GeoComply’s data shows New Yorkers have created an average of 1.36 mobile accounts.
This is what we’d expect from new sports bettors. Rather than downloading multiple apps and shopping for the best odds, they’re still learning the basics of sports betting. This figure should increase over time as bettors gain experience, price-shop more often, new betting sites are introduced, and take advantage of bonus offers offered across the industry.
BetMGM launched in New York on Monday, making it the fifth mobile sportsbook to go live in the state, joining DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel, and BetRivers. There are still four sports betting apps coming to New York — PointsBet, Bally Bet, WynnBET, and Resorts World.
Bettors will have plenty of options to create new accounts as they gain access to more welcome bonuses and learn the importance of price sensitivity.
New York Online Sports Betting’s Impact On New Jersey
Many anticipated the legalization of online sports betting in New York would have a negative impact on the industry in New Jersey. Since legal sports betting launched in New Jersey in 2018, it has been a convenient place for nearby New York sports bettors. A train ride from New York to New Jersey is quicker than a drive from Manhattan to Schenectady.
GeoComply’s early activity statistics don’t spell doom for New Jersey. According to GeoComply’s data, only 9.3% of New Yorkers who wagered in their own state in the first 10 days of legalized betting placed sports bets in New Jersey previously.
Further, New Jersey saw 13.1 million sportsbook transactions in the two weekends since New York launched. That’s 500,000 more than the two weekends before New York went live.
It’s too early to say that New Jersey is completely safe from cannibalization from New York. But the worst-case scenario of New Jersey losing millions in revenue in a weekend has been avoided. While New York will have some effect on New Jersey, it probably won’t be the death rattle of New Jersey’s sports betting market, either.
New Jersey has been a pioneer in the legal sports betting landscape, and some industry analysts expect the state to continue to thrive. Also, New Jersey may continue collecting sports betting revenue from New Yorkers who commute for work and from its robust online gaming industry, which generates millions in revenue can help make up for losses New Jersey incurs to New York.
The relationship between New York and New Jersey’s online sports betting industries is complex — too complex to untangle with two weeks of usage data. But New York is unlikely to ruin New Jersey’s gambling economy.
New York’s First Two Weekends Of Mobile Sports Betting
Over the first week-and-a-half of legal sports betting in the state, New Yorkers have opened 1.2 million accounts and have been pretty brand loyal so far. Brand loyalty is likely to diminish, however, as new sportsbooks launch and bettors gain experience.
Through these early days, New York has solidified itself as the promising market operators and analysts hoped for, as engaged bettors flock to sportsbook apps. Questions about the market’s long-term growth remain, but it’s difficult to be anything other than optimistic.
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