Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers looks to pass during a game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field on November 14, 2021 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Legalized mobile sports betting is now live in New York.
FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook and Rush Street Interactive, the first companies permitted by the New York State Gaming Commission to offer mobile betting on sports games, can launch their sportsbooks in the state at 9 a.m. ET today.
New York is the fourth most populous state in the U.S. and is now the largest state to legalize sports betting. That won't lead to an immediate injection of cash in the coffers of gambling companies, however. New York has an onerous 51% tax on gambling revenue — far larger than New Jersey's 13% rate. Research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming estimates New York won't replace New Jersey as the national leader in gross gaming revenue — the amount of money players wager minus the amount they win — until 2024.
Still, that doesn't alter the long-term significance of today's metaphorical ribbon-cutting, said Patrick Keane, chief executive of The Action Network, a media platform aimed at sports bettors.
"It's arguably the biggest day in the history of sports betting," Keane said. "And it's magically positioned with the first and final 17-game season in NFL history."
The National Football League's final slate of regular-season games is tomorrow. The launch will give New York sports fans an instant opportunity to download apps and place bets on the NFL, the most popular American sport on which to bet. It also presents a valuable marketing opportunity for the first four companies to accumulate New York customers with promotional offers on their first bets.
Five other gambling companies — Bally Bet, BetMGM, WynnBet, PointsBet and Empire Resorts — have 10-year online sports betting licenses in New York but haven't yet passed statutory and regulatory requirements to go live.