After somehow exceeding sky-high expectations during the state’s first year with betting apps in 2022, all New York sports betting participants did for an encore in 2023 was place some $3 billion more worth of bets.
The New York State Gaming Commission put a bow on the 2023 sports wagering numbers with Monday’s release of retail betting figures from its four commercial sportsbooks, and total handle for the year came out just shy of $19.2 billion. The $11.8 million worth of accepted retail wagers in December and $987,000-plus in operator revenues were solid figures for the brick-and-mortar venues to close out 2023, but both numbers left the retail books slightly off totals for 2022.
Not that the $2.2 million dip in retail handle for the year and $572,000 decline in operator winnings matter much in the big picture for the Empire State.
The overall revenue increase thanks to New York’s nine mobile books outpaced the increase in handle, with the $1.7 billion in revenue up 24.2% compared to 2022 thanks to an 8.8% hold that was up almost one-half percentage point.