It took New York 16 days to eclipse $1 billion in mobile sports betting handle

New York eclipsed the $1 billion mark in mobile sports betting handle in its first 16 days of operation in January, according to documents released by the state's Gaming Commission on Friday.

From Jan. 8, when only four sportsbooks were cleared to begin taking bets, through Jan. 23, the five operating mobile sportsbooks in the state handled $1,175,605,980 in wagers. Caesars Sportsbook leads the way with $487,360,917 in wagers, far ahead of second-place FanDuel at $360,005,361.

The total handle moves New York closer toward eclipsing the $1.3 billion record handle for a month set by New Jersey in October 2021. This weekend's NFC and AFC Championship Games — the fourth weekend of NFL games where mobile sports betting was legal in the state — figure to push New York over that number.

BetMGM began taking bets on Jan. 17, so this week's reports included five books for the first time. PointsBet began operating in the state on Jan. 24, giving New Yorkers a sixth option.

Notable sporting events since Jan. 8 include the final week of the NFL regular season, the college football national championship game, two rounds of NFL playoff games and the Australian Open, plus NBA, NHL, soccer and college basketball games.

The gross gaming revenue (GGR) — the profits made by sportsbooks on wagers — totaled $91,427,275. Caesars made the most money at $41,750,856.

Sportsbooks are taxed at 51% on gaming profits in New York, yielding $46,627,910.25 thus far in tax revenue for the state.

By Mark La Monica

mark.lamonica@newsday.comLaMonicaMark

Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.