The New York State Gaming Commission has reported a month-on-month rise in sports betting revenue for March, despite the state’s market being impacted by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) global pandemic.
Sports wagering revenue at the state’s four commercial casinos totalled $99,514 last month, up from a loss of $179,593 in February, which was a record low for New York. The March figure was the second-lowest monthly total on record.
Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady claimed top spot in the market in March, generating $81,883 in sports betting revenue, compared to a loss of $38,802 in February.
The del Lago Resort and Casino, which runs a DraftKings-powered sportsbook and led the market in February, followed with $53,861 in revenue, down from $98,247 in the previous month.
Elsewhere New York’s other two commercial casinos both posted a loss in terms of sports wagering for a second consecutive month.
Tioga Downs and its FanDuel sportsbook saw a loss of $32,926, an improvement on the $94,030 loss in February. Resorts World Catskills, with its International Game Technology and Betgenius book, was able to reduce its loss from $145,008 in February to $3,304 last month.
In terms of the overall market, New York felt the impact of coronavirus as total revenue at the four casinos slipped 55.9% from $54.6m in February to $24.1m.
All four casinos were forced to temporarily close towards the end of the month as part of state-wide measures to slow the spread of coronavirus. New York has been the state hardest hit by the virus, with a total of 123,018 cases and 4,159 deaths at the time of writing.
Rivers Casino ranked first in terms of overall revenue across all verticals, which amounted to $7.2m in March, though this was down by 52.9% from $15.3m in February. Resorts, which led the market in February, saw its total revenue fall by 64.3% from $19.6m to 7.0m.
Revenue at the del Lago was also down by 71.4% to $6.5m, while Tioga Downs saw its revenue decline 49.3% month-on-month from $7.1m to $3.6m.
Both casino and sports betting revenue could suffer further in April as all casinos in the US remain closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The American Gaming Association has that should the casinos stay shut for the next two months, this could cost the US economy as much as $43.5bn.