Legal, online New York sports betting is right around the corner. Although a launch date has yet to be announced, most experts are expecting online NY sports betting to go live sometime before the 2022 Super Bowl, which is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 13.
While eager New York sports bettors wait for the official go-live announcement, operators have been preparing for what is expected to be a busy launch. In November, nine companies were approved to operate in the state after a unique bidding process that saw several name-brand sportsbooks left out.
Sportsbooks Launching in New York
New York’s licensing procedures were different from most states. Sportsbooks teamed up to submit the successful bids — the first group was DraftKings, FanDuel, Bally Sports and BetMGM.
The second group consisted of PointsBet, Caesars, WynnBet, Kambi Group and Resorts World. With Kambi serving as the primary applicant, Rush Street Interactive is the parent company of both BetRivers and SugarHouse.
The operators approved for mobile NY sports betting are:
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- Caesars
- BetMGM
- PointsBet
- WynnBET
- Rush Street (BetRivers and SugarHouse)
- Bally Bet
- Resorts World
Some notable absences include Penn National, which owns Barstool Sportsbook, as well as big-name European operators like Unibet and bet365. Barstool and Fanatics teamed up for a bid but failed to secure a license. Another book that did not receive a license is theScore Bet, which is being acquired by Penn.
More sportsbooks could be added in the future, but the timeline for that remains unknown. It’s also unclear which operators would be next in line to get approved.
Although online sports betting has yet to launch in New York, retail sports betting has been around in The Empire State since 2019. More than half of the approved books already have physical betting locations at in-state casinos: BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, BetRivers and FanDuel.
It is not expected to be a lucrative market for most operators because of the 51% tax rate on profits imposed by the state. Nearby New Jersey has an 8.5% tax for in-person sports bets and a 13% tax for online and mobile sports bets.
However, because of New York’s massive population, cultural significance to the sports landscape and the hope (with legal backing) that the tax rate will decrease to 35% with 13 total operators in the mix down the line, major books are aiming to be a part of the market from the start for mobile sports betting’s long-term potential.
For more updates on New York and other states that will legalize sports betting in 2022 and beyond, check out our legalization tracker for news as it happens.