February Brings Improved Revenues At New York Casinos

February can be a stellar month for gambling companies in the United States because of one thing; the Super Bowl. Super Bowl LVII helped maintain that reputation as in February of this year, New York casinos and sportsbooks beat their performances from the same month in 2022.

Online sportsbooks won over $108 million last month in New York while the state’s four commercial casinos reported $52 million in revenue. With the close of the first fiscal year of online sports betting in New York soon to close, an impressive number is within reach.

February 2023 returns at New York casinos

Revenue from in-person sports betting, poker, slots, and table games at the four upstate casinos in New York just surpassed $52 million in February 2023. That represents a slight improvement (4.7%) on $49.6 million from the same verticals a year prior.

However, February’s numbers are down by about the same percentage (4.5%) from January’s. In that month, the four properties combined to win $54.4 million from players. Fueling part of the annual improvement was greater interest in the casinos’ physical sportsbooks.

In Feb. 2022, New Yorkers gambled $6.3 million on the four books.
Last month, the same put down $7.1 million. The casinos won $188,895 on that action, a tremendous improvement from the $242,505 they lost during the same month in 2022.

Once again, though, sports betting action at the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos paled in comparison to activity on New York sports betting apps for the month.

Super Bowl brings millions to online books

The 2023 Super Bowl helped the amount bet at New York online sportsbooks during February 2023 swell to $1.47 billion. According to the New York State Gaming Commission, the nine sportsbooks reported $108.2 million in win from that number.

While that is less money gambled than during the same month a year prior ($1.5 billion), the books had a better month in terms of the money they kept. In February 2022, the nine apps recorded just $82.3 million in gross revenue.

February did see the online sportsbooks break a five-month streak of at least $140 million in gross revenue. However, it keeps them on track to reach what might have previously been a lofty goal for the first fiscal year of online sports betting in New York.

Could sportsbooks flirt with madness in March?

Through the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, gross revenue for online sports betting in New York has totaled just under $1.3 billion. With the rest of this month left to add to that number, it’s possible that the total could approach $1.5 billion in its first year.

This month’s NCAA D1 men’s and women’s basketball national championship tournaments, more commonly called March Madness, could provide the necessary fuel to race toward that number. Last March, books reported $114.2 million in win.

The books would need to have an outstanding month to reach the over $200 million in revenue they would need during the month to get to that $1.5 billion. At the very least, though, they should get enough to push the fiscal year total over $1.4 billion. If so, the state’s cut of that action could surpass $714 million for the year.

Super Bowl LVII did its part for gambling in New York. The rest of the month will reveal whether March Madness delivers as well.