BetMGM Launches as the Fifth Online Sports Betting Operator in New York

This week, BetMGM has launched as the fifth online sports betting operator in New York. On Friday, BetMGM made the official announcement that the company was joining the online market in NY. As of Monday morning, sports bettors in New York have been able to use the operator in their sports betting endeavors.

Now, this means that for the final game of the Super Wild Card weekend on Monday night, where the Arizona Cardinals face off against the Los Angeles Rams, BetMGM is able to benefit from NFL betting.

This means that the partnership between BetMGM and MGM Resorts’ Empire City Casino and Madison Square Garden will be fully activated. The CEO of BetMGM, Adam Greenblatt, is excited about the company being able to offer New York customers an experience unique to the platform.

BetMGM will be entering into a market that already includes the biggest names in sports betting. BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, and FanDuel Sportsbook have already launched in the state.

BetMGM is trying to set itself apart and gain new customers by coming in with a number of promos at launch. These promos are a risk-free first bet up to $1,000; Bet $10 win $200 on the NFL Wild Card Round; Wager $10, get $200 on the NHL’s Rangers; Bet $10, get $200 on the NBA’s Knicks.

Of course, Caesars Sportsbook currently leads the pack when it comes to promos at launch with their $3,300 haul for new customers. BetMGM is on par with the introductory promos that came from DraftKings and FanDuel. BetRivers had a more conservative $250 promo at launch, but it could be more lasting considering there is a 51% tax rate on sports betting revenue with no write-offs for promos accepted.

At this time, there are still four sportsbook operators who are hoping to be approved for the New York sports betting marketplace. They are Bally Bet, Resorts World, PointsBet, and WynnBET. So far, PointsBet is the sole operator who has provided an update on their New York launch timeline. They are hoping to launch by the end of this month.

After these delays, the operators who have not been able to launch yet will need to make up the market share. These operators are hoping to launch in time to benefit from Super Bowl betting. Over the opening weekend for New York sports betting, there were 17.2 million geolocation pings.

It is important to move into a sports betting market earlier, as was demonstrated with Virginia sports betting. From a mid-January launch through the end of November, FanDuel, who has a four-day lead over other sportsbook in launching, took in 42.7% of all handle from the market.

As expected by the associate Dean of the NYU School of Professional Studies Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport, Vince Gennaro, the first four operators will probably take the majority of the market. He expects to see the first four original operators keeping 70-80% of the market even as far as nine months from now.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert.