The sports betting market is still so very malleable. That’s all because of the inherent desire to show how much, or how little, you know about your favorite sports.
An extensive parlay on NFL playoff games, in perhaps the greatest month of playoff football ever? Why not!
Locking in a futures bet on Chris Paul and the Suns capturing their first-ever championship this coming June? Cha-ching.
The great state of New York is no stranger to what legalized sports betting means for everyone in The Empire State. Hint: It’s called an Empire because they tower over everyone else, not that gigantic eyesore, er, natural landmark in the skyline.
New York legalized sports betting at the start of 2022, and while the results could have been predictable, especially in terms of generated tax revenue, no one could have seen this wave coming. No one could have seen New Yorkers, at large, shattering the door the moment it opened for them.
New York Breaks Record for Most Sports Betting Taxes in a Month
By @sam_mcquill pic.twitter.com/veNxN2nUiY— Alfonso Straffon 🇨🇷🇺🇸🇲🇽 (@astraffon) February 4, 2022
You read that figure right. In the first 23 days of legal New York sports betting, the state generated $57 million in tax revenue. $57 million. That’s more than double the previous state record of $22.9 million set by Pennsylvania in November last year.
Again that sum is Five. Seven. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero.
And that’s only the state tax revenue on bets, which rockets pretty high at a 51 percent tax rate on mobile betting. Overall, $1.62 billion was bet and handled on sports in New York in January. Do you know how they say it’s hard to visualize the difference between a billion and a million? Let me help with that problem. That total money leaving in bets is like if the New York state population of 19.45 million (as of 2019) was multiplied 83 times over.
Is there even enough living space in the city itself for that? I mean, for anything that isn’t $5,000 a month for 200 square feet?
Eli? Eli? Eli?
The point is that sports betting is clearly on the rise in popularity in the United States. As usual, despite a late entry into the fray, New York is there leading the charge anyway.
