With the biggest betting event of the year already done, New York’s sportsbooks will be assessing their strategy for the rest of 2024. And what comes next for WynnBet NY in the months ahead is one to keep an eye on.
WynnBet announced at the end of January that its retraction from certain US betting markets will continue, and an imminent planned exit from Massachusetts is next up. The Wynn-branded sportsbook will surely stick around in New York for the foreseeable though on the back of recent speculation about regulatory developments.
As New York’s top sportsbooks count their dollars taken during this year’s Super Bowl betting frenzy, while turning their attention to March Madness, in the wider gambling industry, the New York State Gaming Commission’s expected delay in awarding new casino licenses will have a bearing on the future direction for a chosen few sportsbooks.
There are two big factors still at play in the New York gambling industry. They’re ones that will impact the state’s sports betting players. Both have been bubbling away for a while now, but neither looks like being resolved any time soon.
One is the structure of the sports betting market in New York. Since betting was legalized in the Empire State back in January 2022, there were only ever nine licenses up for grabs.
All that could change and is likely to do so. But despite some political pressure to open up further spots to encourage newcomers, with brands like ESPN Bet and Bet365 waiting in the wings, no one can say when this might happen. It probably won’t be this year.
The other is the future of casino gambling in New York. There will be new casinos given the go-ahead to get building and swing into operation but there is some growing frustration growing the pace of that process.
Industry observers have been busy of late suggesting that the award of a fresh batch of casino licenses might now not occur until early 2025. The eventual award timeline has yet to even reach a second round of questions to bidders. It looks likely to drag on throughout 2024.
It’s been a relatively long-held belief that WynnBet will remain in New York until at least such time as its interest in opening new casinos in the state is rewarded or otherwise.
Wynn’s recent statement about withdrawing from Massachusetts shouldn’t be taken as a sign of things to come for its New York operation. For one thing, the betting scene in the Bay State is a very different one to that in NY although there is a notable similarity.
MA betting numbers are tiny compared to New York. That said, the market in Massachusetts is dominated by FanDuel and DraftKings which account for around 80% of its total market share. That’s comparable with the landscape New York and WynnBet’s statement specifically referred to no longer pursuing “outsized marketing spend" in its effort to compete in Massachusetts.
That promotional outlay in Massachusetts though, simply isn’t backed by sufficient revenue volume to provide any sort of return in comparison to New York - especially for a smaller sportsbook like WynnBet.
The huge handle figures in the Big Apple are big, bigger than anywhere else in the US, and a big reason to hang around. Combine that with the lure of a prospective way into the next stage of New York’s casino evolution and WynnBet’s future strategy will surely still center around its presence right here.
