After receiving approval for launch from the New York Gaming Commission, PointsBet accepted its first bet at 10.09 pm on Monday the 24th January 2022.
The launch sees PointsBet become the state’s sixth active mobile sports betting operator. The New York mobile sports betting industry officially launched on January 8th when four of the state’s approved operators — Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive — accepted their first wagers.
Following its launch in New York, PointsBet is now available in nine states—Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia. The company has also secured a license in the state of Pennsylvania and hopes to launch its app in the Keystone State in the coming weeks.
New York’s early success
PointsBet’s launch sees the operator join an already thriving industry. In the first 9 days of operation, New York mobile sportsbooks rewrote the record books with the first four to launch accepting over $603 million in wagers. This translated to an 8% hold generating $48.2 million in revenue. As a result, the state netted $24.6 million in taxes thanks to its high tax rate of 51%.
For perspective, it took New Jersey 25 months to handle over $600 in mobile wagers in a single month. It took Pennsylvania 30months to do the same while Illinois took just 10 months to reach that milestone.
With another 3 mobile operators yet to launch in the state, New York could break yet more records once the industry is fully underway. However, reports from the New York Post suggest that one of those remaining operators WynnBet will be put up for sale by its owner Wynn Resorts. If the rumors are true, it’s not yet clear if the company will go ahead with its New York launch.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.