With going live in the mobile New York sports betting market Saturday morning, BetRivers enters its 12th state with its mobile app.
Owned by Chicago-based Rush Street Interactive (RSI), the BetRivers brand joined DraftKings NY, FanDuel NY and Caesars Sportsbooks live in potentially the biggest U.S. online sports betting market.
The four online sportsbooks were approved to launch Saturday in New York by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) on Thursday. Five other sportsbooks are waiting for approval to go live in the state.
Rush Street also operates PlaySugarHouse.com and has real-money online casinos and/or retail operations in 12 states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, West Virginia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
BetRivers has an opening offer. If you deposit $250 into their account you will get $250 in free bets.
9 Operators Picked by NYSGC
In addition to its sports betting app, BetRivers has a retail sportsbook at Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady.
It is one of four upstate retail sportsbooks in operation, along with Resorts World Casino in Monticello, Del Lago Casino in Waterloo and Tioga Downs in Nichols.
On Nov. 8, Rush Street was one of nine operators selected by the NYSGC to receive a mobile sports betting license.
The other eight licensed mobile betting operators are: PointsBet, Caesars, FanDuelNY, DraftKings NY, WynnBET, Bally Bet, Resorts World and BetMGM NY.
The state wanted to launch before the Super Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and it more than met that goal. The five sportsbooks still waiting for approval are BetMGM, WynnBET, PointsBet, Bally Bet and Resorts World.
Biggest Market with Legal Sports Betting
Mobile business in New York has been highly sought after by all the major players. The state is considered a big fish.
That’s because New York (19.3 million residents) will become the state with the largest population to have mobile sports betting. The state with the highest population, California (39.6 million), and second-most, Texas (29.7 million), do not have sports betting. That probably will remain true until 2023 at the earliest.
No. 3 Florida had limited sports betting in 2021 with one sportsbook run by the Seminole Tribe (Hard Rock Sportsbook). But that was stopped by the courts in December.
Rivers Casino Has Highest Revenue
The November numbers for sports handle and revenue for New York showed handle was down but revenue was up.
Retail had been the only form of sports wagering in New York, taking place at the four upstate casinos.
Total sports handle was $21.519 million in November, a drop from $25.567 million in October. Rivers, at $9.9 million, led the casinos, followed by Del Lago ($6.15 million), Resorts World Catskills ($3.8 million) and Tioga Downs ($1.7 million).
Count on those numbers to go up by quite a lot as mobile sports betting takes root.
Sen. Addabbo Has Pushed Cause
A key player in the saga to launch mobile sports betting, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., had hoped that all of the online sportsbooks would launch at the same time.
“I would like to see everyone launch and start at once, which gives everyone an even playing field and provides more options at once for the consumer,” said Addabbo, chairman of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee. “Everyone would benefit from that happening.”
Addabbo spoke more extensively to NewYorkBets.com in a question and answer session.
