“Free Money” Draws 1.1M New Yorkers to Sports Betting

On Jan. 8, the state of New York legalized sports betting.

By Tuesday (Jan. 25), five of the country’s largest betting apps — BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM — saw a combined 23.7% increase in active monthly users, or 7.3 million people. More than 1.1 million online betting accounts were created in New York in the first two weeks of legalized gambling, almost 90% of them new to the world of sports betting.

That’s according to Bloomberg News, which examined the popularity of sports betting in a report Monday (Jan. 31).

See also: New York Bets On Mobile Sports Wagering

The report notes that while betting on sports is popular in many markets, New York offers bettors a wealth of opportunity, with its two professional baseball, football and basketball teams, as well as hockey and soccer.

Add the lure of free money — gambling companies offered promotional credits as large as $1,000 to new players — and it’s not surprising that players descended on the games they moment they became legal.

“We underestimated the number of people that would come out of the woodwork as the clock struck to open the New York market on a Saturday at 9 a.m.,” Lindsay Slader, managing director of gaming at GeoComply, said.

A number of players told Bloomberg the promotional deals make it seem like they’re playing with “toy money” or “house money.” The risks don’t seem as real online.

“You used to go to the bar and it was, ‘Oh, who’s your favorite sports team?’ Now, it’s, ‘What bets have you placed,’ which I think is a big pressure just to have something,” said Henry Sonnenfeldt, an Upper West Side resident and recent convert to the world of sports betting.

Read more: U.S. Sports Betting Market Too Saturated, Says New FanDuel Head

Last year, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe warned that the American gambling market had become too crowded, setting many of the competitors up to fail.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling made sports betting legal in 2018. Since then, more than two dozen states have allowed residents to bet on sports, with many of states considering becoming a part of what is projected to be a $10 billion market by 2025.