According to a study, New York is responsible for more than 37 percent of all tax revenues generated by sports betting in America.
Sports betting has been added to the list of sources of taxes in QTAX, a quarterly survey of state and local tax revenue conducted by United States Census Bureau.
In Q3 2023, QTAX found that the gross revenues and tax collected from sports betting totaled just over $506m. (PS403.5m/EUR473m). The Q3 2022 figure was higher by 20.5%, but still significantly less than Q2 2023’s $571.5m.
New York generated the most tax revenue from sports betting during the third quarter 2023. Its $188.5m was nearly five times more than Indiana, which came in second with $38.6m. New York has the highest tax rate on gross gambling revenue at 51%.
Ohio and Illinois were third and fourth, with $32.9m each. Pennsylvania was fifth with $28.8m.
New York breaking record after record
New York, which announced earlier this week that it set a record in online sports betting for the second month running, reaching $211.5m, has surpassed its previous monthly revenue of $19m.
This January’s total is 12.3% higher than the $188,3m record set in December 2023. The $149.4m in New York reported for January of last year was 41.6% less than this total.
In January, however, the New Yorkers’ three-month streak of betting more than $2,000bn on online sports ended. The total handle for January was $1.96bn. It was 9.5% more than the $1.8bn wagered in January 2023, but only 3.9% higher than December’s total of $2.04bn.
Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel is still the leader in New York State. FanDuel set a new state record in January with its $109.2m online gambling revenue. It was the largest figure posted ever by one operator.
Penn acquires Wynn New York Sports Betting License
Penn Entertainment, a Penn Entertainment company, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase Wynn Interactive Holdings New York Sports Betting Licenses. Penn can now launch ESPN Bet within the state of New York in 2024.
In the agreement, Penn Resorts will pay $25 million to Wynn Interactive, Wynn Resorts’ subsidiary, Wynn Interactive, LLC, in order to acquire WSI US, LLC, Wynn Interactive’s mobile sports betting licences.
Penn and Disney’s ESPN partnered in 2023, rebranding Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook as ESPN Bet. In November, it was launched in 17 US States.
Jay Snowden CEO and President of Penn Entertainment said that the acquisition would expose ESPN Bet the largest sports betting market within the US.
New York’s igaming delays despite successful sports betting
Igaming is still absent in New York, even though it’s the state with by far most sports bets.
Kathy Hochul’s executive budget for 2025 omitted igaming. This is another setback to hopes that online gaming will be legalized in New York.
The bill was passed despite the fact that New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo had filed a revised version of his igaming legislation. Senate Bill S8185 was a follow-up to Addabbo’s earlier attempt at introducing online gaming into the Empire State.
