Early New York Online Sports Betting Shows Welcome Bonuses Having Intended Effect
To no one’s surprise, the online sportsbooks putting out the flashiest offers are getting the most love in the Empire State. New York online betting numbers from the first nine days of legal betting in NY confirm that people love a deal.
The four apps that launched at first crack earlier this month combined to take over $600 million in wagers from Jan. 8 through Jan. 16. They were far from equal in how they contributed to that performance, though.
A look at the first nine days of New York online betting
Over the first nine days of legal online betting in NY, bettors in the state put down more than $603 million in wagers. The four sportsbooks held $48.2 million, or 8%, of that sum. Because the state gets a 51% cut of that revenue, that means the state’s coffers grew $24.6 million richer.
Just two of the four operators accounted for over 76% of that handle, however. The breakdown of the four apps by handle went as follows:
- Caesars – $257.6 million
- FanDuel – $200.3 million
- DraftKings – $134.4 million
- BetRivers – $10.6 million
Thus, Caesars cut of that $603 million pie was 25 times larger than BetRivers’ slice. Why such a huge disparity? Advertising frequency and earlier investments into the market play into the situation. Caesars already counted former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning among its brand ambassadors.
Additionally, Caesars is one of the brands that took part in the barrage of television and web commercials that saturated the state over that period of time. But, it also had a flashier welcome offer to draw people’s attention to. FanDuel’s performance in comparison to DraftKings bears out the importance of that dynamic as well.
You have to spend money to make money
With these deals for new customers, it was more about style than substance. Caesars’ introductory offer in NY is two free bets worth up to $3,300. BetRivers, by contrast, was a 100% match of your first deposit up to $250.
The actual value of these deals for each user is very dependent on circumstances. Neither sportsbook is offering real money here. In both cases, the promotional value is paid in free bets or site credit.
That means to get any actual cash from either offer, you have to place successful wagers. So, if you miss on your free bets from Caesars but are able to turn some of your deposit match credit from BetRivers into real money with winning bets, then the BetRivers deal was actually worth more to you despite the lower ceiling.
Regardless of that fact, the higher ceiling on Caesars’ offer seems to have done the trick and produced a lot more handle. The same thing seems to have made a difference between FanDuel and DraftKings as well.
FanDuel’s welcome offer is a +3000 odds boost for new bettors’ first $5 bets, promising a $150 return in real money. DraftKings offers $280 in free bets for a successful $5 wager. Although the stated value on DraftKings’ offer is greater, NY bettors obviously love that FanDuel was offering a shot at a boosted payout in actual cash.
We’ll get more of an idea of how bettors are behaving in NY when data from a longer time period becomes available. In this small sample, though, it looks like eye-popping offers are a path to success.
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