State sees big tax haul from mobile sports betting; calls to gambling hotline also up

ALBANY — New York’s tax haul from sports betting is skyrocketing, far outstripping projections, according to a new report issued Wednesday.

But there is fallout: While sports betting is growing, gambling-related calls to the state’s addiction hot line are way up and in-person sports betting at upstate casinos is way down.

Those are the top takeaways in a gambling report released by state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli on Wednesday.

All told, the state collected about $4.8 billion in tax revenues for fiscal year 2022-23, which ended March 31, from all forms of gambling combined, the report found. The lottery, at roughly $2.7 billion, still accounts for more than half of the revenue, though its growth has been relatively flat for the last decade.

Video slot machines, installed at some horse racing tracks and venues such as Jake’s 58 casino in Islandia, account for the second-largest source of revenue, at just about $1 billion. But that source too has grown relatively little over the last decade.

The big jump has been in mobile sports betting — called mobile because it can be done online and not in-person at a casino.

The comptroller said the state collected $727 million in tax revenue related to mobile sports betting during the 2022-23 fiscal year, more than double the $361 million it collected in 2021-22. That is also more than double lawmakers’ estimates when they included gambling revenue in the state budget.

Part of the growth is attributable to New York’s tax rate on mobile sports betting gross revenue, which, at 51%, is tied with Rhode Island and New Hampshire for highest in the nation.

DiNapoli said growth is expected to level in out in the current fiscal year, though it is still expected to rise 7% annually for the next four years.

However, the growth in online betting has triggered other changes. Gambling-related calls to the state’s hotline spiked 26% over the last fiscal year, according to the report.

“With the ease and 24/7 availability of mobile betting apps, problem gambling and addiction are poised to increase,” DiNapoli said. “More attention should be devoted to understanding the implications of mobile sports betting, particularly on young New Yorkers.”

Further, the state Gaming Commission needs to flesh out reporting on problem gambling related to online sports betting, the comptroller said. The commission is supposed to submit an annual report on the topic, but its first version, issued last spring, ran just six pages and contained limited data.

Another impact of online sports betting: a whopping decline in sports-betting revenue at upstate casinos.

When New York first authorized sports betting, it could be done only in-person at a casino. Since the adoption of online sports betting, in-person sports betting at four upstate casinos fell 45%. Rivers Casino in Schenectady saw the largest drop in actual revenue, falling from $7.8 million in fiscal year 2021-22 to $4.9 million in 2022-23.