New York Invests $500M in Sports Betting Tax Revenue Into Education, Youth Sports and Problem Gambling

• Since Launching in Jan., NY’s Sports Betting Market Generated $500M in Tax Revenue

• New York Has Invested Most of that Tax Revenue into Education, Youth Sports, and PG

• The Empire State Sports Gambling Market's Total Handle is $13.5B and Counting

Since Launching in Jan., NY’s Sports Betting Market Generated $500M in Tax Revenue

Once New York lawmakers got tired of watching the state’s potential sports betting cash cow mosey elsewhere, they worked together to legalize that activity for residents by January 2022, and ever since that market has been booming with activity and generating profits for all.

According to a recent release by Gov. Kathy Hochul, from Jan. 8 to Oct. 30, New York’s nine licensed sports betting operators have created $1.06 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR), a figure that gets taxed at a 51% rate earning the state about $541.4 million in tax revenue.

It’s new money that, prior to January, left the state either via unregulated offshore sportsbooks, illegal local bookies, or worse, to nearby states that already legalized that activity, behavior that frustrated State Assemblymember, Gary Pretlow.

Pretlow is the chair of the Assembly Committee on Racing and Wagering and he told the media exactly what drove him to sponsor this legislative issue:

“When Senator (Joe) Addabbo and I proposed the bill to legalize mobile sports wagering in New York, we knew the fans had an appetite for wagering because they were going across the river to bet in New Jersey. Our success was inevitable…”

Now instead of leaving the state, that money stays put, gets taxed, and the revenue from that process gets reinvested into projects that benefit residents.

New York Has Invested Most of That Tax Revenue Into Education, Youth Sports, and PG

The state of New York taxes the sports betting market at the highest rate in the country, 51%, and Governor Kathy Hochul has no doubt that the money it raises is being well spent on worthy causes that help the people who live there, saying in a recent release:

“By bringing sports wagering to New York, we have not only opened the door to responsible entertainment for millions of sports fans, but we have also brought in significant revenue to support schools, as well as youth sports, while implementing important safeguards to help those who need it.”

Not only do New York sports gamblers have it easier now with access to a well-regulated (safe) market in which to wager, all that money that used go unaccounted for is being reinvested in worthy projects – education, underserved youth sports, and battling problem gambling.

It’s a win-win situation that is gradually becoming worth billions.

The Empire State Sports Gambling Market's Total Handle is $13.5B and Counting

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA in May 2018 allowing each state to decide if they want a legal, regulated, and taxed sports betting market of their own, over thirty states have done just that and launched their own versions of that mobile and/or retail operation.

Together, those states have generated a total handle of $163.8 billion which has created $12.2 billion in total revenue which has equated to almost $2 billion in total tax revenue split between those thirty-plus states, money that didn’t exist for them prior to those launches.

Despite a slow Sept., NY’s legal sports gambling market is responsible for $13.5 billion of that total U.S. handle, the state’s large population of gamblers is a big reason for the success, a clear sign to the states still on the fence regarding this issue that legal sports betting is here to stay.