Online sports betting is live in the state of New York as of 9:00 AM ET on Saturday morning. There were rumors that online betting was coming in January, but the launch date snuck up on residents of the state.
The New York State Gaming Commission made this announcement earlier in the week, and there are four sportsbooks ready to go live. Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive will be the first to go live.
New York has now become the most populous state to offer sports betting, which should lead to big numbers. Only having four online sports betting options initially is still a pretty small market, but that will be changing soon.
The New York State Gaming Commission has announced that it will approve licenses on a rolling basis moving forward, and those sites will be launching at different times as well.
Bally’s, BetMGM, Wynn Resorts, PointsBet, and Genting’s Resorts World have all applied to receive a new license.
New York has had in-person sports betting since 2019, but it has continued to lose out on revenue to New Jersey, which has online betting available.
Long Road to Legalization
It wasn’t a difficult process for lawmakers in New York to pass a bill to legalize sports betting, but mobile betting was not included at that time. Governor Andrew Cuomo believed that a new constitutional amendment was needed, and that kept the state without mobile betting.
After New York saw New Jersey become the largest sports betting market in the U.S., the lack of online sportsbooks was holding this state back. Governor Cuomo changed his stance in 2021, giving lawmakers the power to get a new bill passed.
The New York State Gaming Commission gave online betting the official approval in November 2021, but it took some time for everything to get in place for launch.
Here Comes Football Betting
Launching on January 8 is a massive boost to sportsbooks as there is plenty of time to get some football bets in. Football is the most popular sport to wager on in the U.S. and will allow New York sportsbooks to get off on the right track.
The College Football Championship is set for January 10, and this will bring in plenty of betting action. Week 18 of the NFL season and the entire playoffs will also allow New York to see impressive numbers for the first month.
Financial Projections Are Impressive
Sportsbooks that choose to launch in New York will pay plenty of money for this opportunity. These online operators will be paying the casinos $5 million each year for the opportunity to accept wagers online.
The tax on sports betting revenue is set at 51 percent, tied with New Hampshire for the highest rate in the country.
Forbes projects that New York will receive nearly $500 million in tax revenue by 2025 now that online sports betting is available. 
