It’s official. Legal NY online sports betting is already showing strong financial outcomes for the city’s major venues.
Madison Square Garden announced strong results in its Q3 earnings call last week with revenues of $338 million, higher than MSG’s pre-pandemic 2019 Q3 revenue.
MSG president Andy Lustgarten gave mobile sports betting significant credit for the financial boost.
“Mobile sports betting now represents our largest revenue category and marketing partnerships on a run-rate basis,” Lustgarten said during the call.
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Madison Square Garden’s Sportsbook Partnerships
MSG has inked deals with BetMGM NY, Caesars Sportsbook NY, and DraftKings NY. These partnerships benefit both the venue and the sportsbooks, with promotional marketing bringing in more users and visitors.
These three sportsbooks hold the most significant percentage of the handle in New York State, and MSG chose to emphasize the mutual benefit the partnerships establish.
“And as we move into fiscal 2023, we will see the full impact of these three new partnerships in our results,” Lustgarten said. “We’ve spoken before about the significant exposure we offer our partners. With BetMGM, Caesar Sportsbook, and DraftKings representing over 50% of the mobile sports wagering handle in New York in March, we are excited to continue helping them reach new audiences.”
MSG’s official teams are the New York Rangers and the New York Knicks. Both teams have official partnerships with BetMGM and Caesars.
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The Future of NY Online Sports Betting at MSG
Sports fans will likely see more sports betting perks at Madison Square Garden in the coming months and years.
Two of New York City’s major sports venues already have sportsbook-branded lounges and VIP perks in the works. The Mets officially partnered with Caesars Sportbook, and plan to open a Ceasars Sportsbook lounge sometime this season.
The Yankees lagged behind the Mets a bit but in April announced an official partnership with FanDuel, which includes VIP access and other perks.
New York lawmakers are also considering a bill to introduce sports betting kiosks at sports venues. While those changes aren’t expected to happen any time soon, Lustgarten said in February that he hoped to increase earnings with those add-ons in the future.
“New York State has been one of the more restrictive states in terms of both tax rate and certain rules around gaming,” Lustgarten said at the Q2 earnings call in February. “And so in the news, you might have read about conversations about kiosks, lounges, other possibilities, any of those would be incremental revenue for us and would be a win-win for our partners. We think it’s an evolving category and evolving business that’s very good for both us and our partners.”
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