Study finds New York generates over 37% of all US sports betting tax
The Quarterly Survey of State and Local Tax Revenue (QTAX), carried out by the United States Census Bureau, recently added sports betting to its list of tax sources.
QTAX for Q3 of 2023 found that sports betting accumulated national tax and gross receipts of just under $506m (£403.5m/€473m). This was up 20.5% from Q3 2022 but significantly lower than the $571.5m generated in Q2 2023.
New York dominated the tax generated via sports betting in the third quarter of 2023, with its $188.5m nearly five times higher than Indiana’s $38.6m in second. No state has a higher tax on gross gambling revenues than New York’s 51%.
Ohio and Illinois ranked third and fourth with $32.9m and $32.4m respectively, while Pennsylvania rounded out the top five with $28.8m.
New York breaking record after record
Earlier this week, New York announced it had set a new online sports betting record for the second consecutive month, with January revenue reaching $211.5m.
The January total was 12.3% up on the previous record of $188.3m set in December of 2023. It was also 41.6% higher than the $149.4m reported in New York in January last year.
However, January marked the end of a three-month run of New York players spending more than $2.00bn betting on sports online. In terms of January handle, players wagered a total of $1.96bn during the month. This was 9.5% up from $1.8bn in January 2023 but 3.9% less than December’s $2.04bn.
Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel remains the front runner in the Empire State by some distance. In January, FanDuel claimed a state record of its own, posting $109.2m in online betting revenue. This was the highest figure ever posted by a single operator.
Penn to acquire Wynn’s New York sports betting licence
On Tuesday, Penn Entertainment announced it had agreed to acquire Wynn Interactive Holdings’ New York sports betting licences. This clears the way for Penn to launch ESPN Bet in the state in 2024.
As part of the deal, Penn will acquire Wynn Resorts subsidiary Wynn Interactive’s mobile sports wagering licences entity, WSI US, LLC, for $25m.
Penn partnered with Disney-owned ESPN in August 2023 in a deal that saw Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook rebranded as ESPN Bet. It then launched in 17 US states in November.
Jay Snowden, CEO and president of Penn Entertainment, said the acquisition will expose ESPN Bet to the most prominent sports betting market in the US.
New York made to wait on igaming despite sports betting success
Despite New York’s position as by far the most lucrative state for sports betting in North America, igaming continues to be absent.
In announcing her 2025 executive budget, New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, left out igaming, landing another blow to the hopes of getting online gaming in the state.
This came despite New York state senator Joseph Addabbo’s filing of a revised igaming bill. Senate Bill S8185 built on Addabbo’s previous attempt to introduce online gaming in the Empire State.