Betting

New Yorkers register 1.2m betting accounts in less than two weeks following online launch

By Conor Mulheir - 19 Jan, 2022

New York’s online sports betting market has grown at some speed since going live on 8 January after 878,000 unique users created 1.2m betting accounts with the state’s regulated sportsbooks.

With a total population of around 19.3m residents according to World Population Review, the figure suggests that over 4.5% of the state’s inhabitants have already registered accounts with regulated sportsbooks, just 10 days after the market’s launch.

So far, only five out of nine approved licensees have passed the regulatory scrutiny required to launch their products, with four further brands expected to go live in the near future.

BetmMGM launched its offering at the beginning of this week (17 January) after DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars Entertainment and Rush Street Interactive launched on the market’s opening day (8 January).

Bally Bet, WynnBet, PointsBet and Resorts World are yet to launch in the state after being approved for a licence in November of last year.

“The momentum of New York’s sports betting launch has continued and it is mostly home-grown,” said Lindsay Slader, MD of gaming at GeoComply, the geolocation specialist that collects and distributes data on the US sports betting market.

“The vast majority of users are brand new to regulated sports betting in the US. The data tell us that New Yorkers are dumping illegal sportsbooks for the new legal options and operators are also excelling at attracting first-time bettors,” she added.

New data from GeoComply has also allayed fears that the launch of New York’s mobile betting market would eat into revenues attained in neighbouring New Jersey, where Empire State residents previously placed their bets after crossing state lines.

According to the figures, 9.3% of New York-based bettors had previously placed bets in New Jersey. Conversely, 87.8% of users are brand new to regulated online sports betting.

Transaction volumes appear to back this up, with New Jersey registering an average of 12.6m geolocation transactions over the two weekends prior to New York’s launch, and 13.1m transactions in the two weekends post-launch.

New York’s transaction volumes have eclipsed these figures, however, suggesting New Jersey’s position as the largest online betting market in the US is sure to be overtaken, with 17.2m and 17.9m transactions registered respectively on the opening two weekends of New York’s legalised mobile betting market.

GeoComply said an average of 1.36 betting accounts per player demonstrates that consumers are, so far, remaining loyal to their preferred brands.

However, with bonus offers of up to $3,000 available, and more competition incoming, it remains to be seen whether this loyalty will remain as operators battle it out to acquire the state’s most lucrative customers.

The GeoComply data was collected between 8 January and 17 January.