Mobile sports betting handle in New York tops $170 million in first weekend

Mobile sports betting in New York began on Jan. 8 of this year, and the revenue it generated was astounding.

In the first weekend of availability, the handle of the four online sportsbooks taking bets was more than $170 million, according to the New York State Gaming Commission. That's higher than the $150 million mentioned in Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2023 state budget briefing book earlier this week.

That's 171,298,256 in the span of two days as bettors in New York took to their phones, tablets and computers to place wagers on the NFL playoffs, NBA and NHL games, the College Football Playoff national championship and other sporting events around the world.

By comparison, from April through December 2021, the four upstate casinos taking in-person bets handled $146 million in wagers.

Watch the animated, 15-second timeline below to see how the numbers add up.

These numbers represent the revenue generated from sports betting, not the profit of the books or the taxes collected by New York. The nine approved online sportsbooks each will pay 51% in state tax on profits in New York, by far the highest of any state in the country.

Gov. Hochul's budget briefing earlier this week projected revenue for the state from mobile sports betting at $249 million in the 2022 fiscal year. (That includes $200 million in already-collected license fees.) The projected revenue grows to $357 million in 2023 and up to $518 million in 2027.

By Mark La Monica

mark.lamonica@newsday.comLaMonicaMark

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