The first year of legal online sports betting in New York featured over a billion geolocation checks and more than three million accounts created, according to data released by GeoComply.
According to the geolocation company, in the first 12 months since NY sports betting went live Jan. 8, 2022, users in the Empire State combined to create 3.79 million accounts and 1.25 billion geolocation checks.
As GeoComply noted, as the most populous state, New York saw its size aptly reflected by those figures.
“The most satisfying result of New York’s success,” Lindsay Slader, GeoComply SVP Compliance, said in a statement, “is that millions of players have gravitated to accountable legal betting options that provide meaningful protections and are significant contributors to the state economy.”
NY sports betting will continue to grow…
From the moment online sports betting in New York launched, the industry established itself as “king of the hill,” as Anna Sainsbury, CEO of GeoComply, put it in September.
During opening weekend in January 2022, users in New York accounted for 17.2 million geolocation pings — over eight million in New York City alone. That total went unmatched by any other state within the US during the same timeframe.
New York continued that trend through the spring and summer. And during Week 1 of the NFL season, NY sports betting, with 15.7 million pings, accounted for over 15% of all tracking across the country. For perspective, as Slader noted, such volume and “incredible demands” from New York proves that GeoComply’s tech can “make it anywhere.”
“New York jumped out of the gate as the leader when it launched and hasn’t looked back,” Slader said.
“I don’t see New York’s position as the number one state for sports betting changing soon, and I believe it will grow, especially if lawmakers decide to legalize iGaming.”
… Especially with legalization of NY online casinos
Indeed, lawmakers in the Empire State intend to push for the legalization of online casinos in New York. The consensus is that this vertical would bolster NY sports betting even more.
Last summer, Bill Pascrell III of Princeton Public Affairs Group told PlayNY that online casinos would not only complement the sports betting industry, but, in fact, online casinos might be needed to help its counterpart survive. Especially considering the steep 51% tax rate.
“I think the sooner New York gets its act together with that, the better,” Pascrell said, “because the existing sports betting operators in New York are dying on a vine. It’s just not sustainable at that tax rate.”
That said, online sports betting in New York did not exactly suffer in 2022.
Bettors combined for over $16 billion in handle, leading to more than $1 billion in gross gaming revenue and nearly $700 million in state tax revenue.
