BetMGM will become the fifth online sportsbook operator to launch in New York when it goes live on Monday.
Mobile sports wagering began in the Empire State last weekend, and it quickly became the largest market in the country. Just four sportsbooks were ready to roll on launch date – BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook – but competition is now heating up.
BetMGM is in the top five most popular online sportsbooks on a nationwide basis, and it is also the country’s leading online casino brand. It should provide formidable opposition to the four operators that are already up and running in New York.
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Bringing Plans to Fruition
BetMGM is a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Entain. The JV is headquartered in Jersey City.
It recently tied up a deal to become the official sports betting partner of the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden Arena.
“We’ll now be able to fully activate our relationships with MGM Resorts’ Empire City Casino and Madison Square Garden,” said BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt. “We look forward to offering customers in New York unique experiences that they can’t access on any other platform. A huge thank you to the New York Gaming Commission as well as to our entire BetMGM team who have worked tirelessly to bring this to fruition.”
BetMGM is one of just nine operators to secure a license for New York, where online sportsbooks must pay a $25 million licensing fee and hand over 51% of their revenue in taxes.
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Choice of Welcome Offers
BetMGM is currently offering a choice of two sign-up bonuses. The first is its usual welcome offer – a risk-free first bet up to $1,000. This is a large and simple bonus. You just sign up for an account, place a bet and get a full refund if it loses. The refund is issued in bonus credit, up to $1,000 maximum.
You will then need to roll it over once, and any winnings will be paid in cash, but your bet amount is not part of the return.
The other sign-up bonus offer is possibly more appealing. It is a “Bet $10, Get $200” offer. It allows a new customer to bet $10 on an NFL game, a Knicks game or a Rangers game and then get $200 in Bonus Bet credit if the team wins.
It is divided into two Bonus Bets, each of which is worth $100. You have seven days to use them, and any winnings will be paid in cash.
READ MORE: Caesars Sportsbook Launches Huge Welcome Bonus in New York
Mutually Assured Destruction
Those offers should help BetMGM compete with DraftKings, which has launched a similar bonus – “Bet $5, Win $280”.
Caesars has blown everyone else out of the water with a sign-up bonus worth up to $3,300 – including a $300 Bonus Bet and a 100% deposit match up to $3,000 – and BetRivers is offering its standard 100% deposit match up to $250.
READ MORE: DraftKings Launches “Bet $5, Win $280” Offer
One analyst, Regulus Partners, has warned that operators in New York are engaging in “mutually assured destruction” by launching such lavish sign-up offers in a state that charges very high taxes and licensing fees.
“Early aggressive bonusing to try to gain share is basically the industry digging a hole for itself faster,” it warned in a note. “With nine brands currently or soon to be in action, there is just enough competition for the industry to engage in mutually assured destruction.”
