The Tuesday Line: ESPN Bet Coming To NY; Nevada, FanDuel Release Super Bowl Handle Numbers
Also, the US Census Bureau starts aggregating sports betting tax revenue across the country
Here’s today’s quick rundown in the world of US gambling. Read The Monday Line if you’re playing catch-up.
ESPN Bet joining the fray in New York
Penn Entertainment announced it has paid $25 million to Wynn Interactive to take over its sports betting license in New York. That means ESPN Bet will come to the Empire State sometime this year, after regulatory approval; one would guess the goal is to go live before the start of football season. Despite the high cost of entry and to operate in New York (a 51% tax rate on gross revenue), committing to ESPN Bet made market access almost imperative in the largest state with legal online sports betting (outside of Florida’s Hard Rock monopoly). More instant thoughts from Sharp Alpha Advisor’s Lloyd Danzig. The entry by Penn is interesting after CEO Jay Snowden pooh-poohed the NY market in 2021, saying “I don’t think anybody’s going to make money… I think it’s just going to be a margin killer. I think it’s going to be an EBITDA detractor.” At the time, he did say an operator would rather be in than out of the market, as well.
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Census Bureau talks up sports betting tax revenue
In the category of “that’s interesting,” the US Census Bureau just added sports betting proceeds in its Quarterly Survey of State and Local Tax Revenue. More information here. No one will be shocked to see that New York is generating by far the most tax revenue. Sports betting created $505 million in tax revenue in Q3 of last year, up 20% YoY. Tax revenue was supposed to be one of the compelling arguments for legalization; the industry would be well-served to signal boost this data.
An aside as a content producer: The stock art on this piece is an abomination.
More Super Bowl data
We don’t get exact amounts about how much money was bet on the Super Bowl in a lot of places. So there’s a lot of cobbling together of data points to get to a good estimate. Two pretty interesting ones have been released:
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that sportsbooks took $186 million in wagers on the game, a new record in the state. Operators generated $6.8 million in revenue.
FanDuel reported that it took $307 million in wagers on the game, a new high for the US sports betting leader:
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