Online New York sports betting tax revenue has hit the $1 billion mark.
New York is the first state in the US with legal online sports betting to reach the $1 billion tax revenue milestone since the fall of PASPA in 2018.
The Empire State sits at $1.005 billion in online NY sports betting tax revenue, from its Jan. 8, 2022 launch through May 31, 2023.
NY sports betting tax rate hit for state
The windfall of tax revenue dollars flowing into New York’s coffers is a product of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 51% tax rate on online sports betting.
While operators, who willingly agreed to it, have continually complained that the 51% tax rate hinders their ability to become profitable, legislators in the state have no reason to make any changes.
Ninety-eight percent of all tax revenue from NY online sports betting goes toward educational funding.
NY laps field with tax revenue take
Here’s a look at the overall US sports betting tax revenue leaders (including in-person sportsbooks,) courtesy of LSR tracking:
- New York: $1.01 billion
- Pennsylvania: $427.6 million
- New Jersey: $368.4 million
- Illinois: $289 million
- Tennessee: $141.6 million
FanDuel paces NY sports betting
FanDuel Sportsbook also exceeded the $1 billion mark, in total gross gaming revenue from NY online sports betting. FanDuel holds 43% of the handle share and 51% of the revenue share in the Empire State.
DraftKings Sportsbook is second, with a 31% handle share and a 29% revenue share.
From Jan. 8, 2022 through May 31, 2023, NY online sports betting operators amassed $22.9 billion in online sports betting handle and $1.97 billion in total gross gaming revenue.
Next for New York sports betting?
New York’s post-budget legislative session ended last week.
Sen. Joe Addabbo is pleased about where things are at, but he still wants more. New Yorkers remain unable to wager on awards, something legislators will not be able to try to change again until next year.
“I’m very proud of the product,” Addabbo told LSR. “It gives credit to the structure we set up, but also the operators. It sets up for a strong foundation to build upon in terms of online sports betting itself, and seeing what we could do there like (adding) MVP bets and the Cy Young bets and so forth. Maybe also incorporating a little more horse racing into it.”
NY online gaming push for 2024
After a short break, Addabbo’s offseason attention will turn to trying to reignite the push to legalize online casino gaming.
He will need to convince the powerful Hotel & Gaming Trades Council to change its stance.
“We’ve got the No. 1 sports betting product in the nation,” Addabbo said. “So let’s take that momentum and build upon it, and that’s what I intend to do. I will be making a big push for iGaming to be included in the next budget. Every year we don’t do it, it’s money lost to other states.”
