With five Big Four sports teams playing home games inside New York’s city limits, the Jets and Giants calling the city home (and just across the Hudson in East Rutherford, New Jersey) and the New York Islanders a manageable ride away on public transport, New York City is a haven for sports fans.
It’s been an exciting 13 months for New York sports fans.
Sports wagering went live in the Empire State in January 2022 and quickly set the tone for the rest of the country: the total value of bets placed hit $16.5 billion in the first 365 days of operation, netting New York $709 million in tax dollars devoted to education.
New York brought in more money off sports gambling than any other state, and they’re just getting started.
With powerhouse teams, rabid fans and a plethora of media outlets in the largest city in the country, New York is a lure for a wide variety of sports fans.
Winning, the Cure for What Ails You
Four of New York City’s seven teams made the playoffs during the 2022 season, bringing even more media and fan attention to a place already flush with it.
The Yankees have 27 World Series titles and are perennial contenders to win their 28th, while the Mets are trying to shake their reputation of lovable losers as billionaire hedge fund manager and current owner Steve Cohen hasn’t shied away from pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into improving his roster.
Ahead of pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training, the Bronx Bombers and the Mets have some of the best odds to win it all in 2023 per New York’s top Sportsbooks: at +650 and +750, respectively, they are tied for the first and second-best odds, and are also the favorites to win the pennant.
The Giants won a playoff game for the first time since 2011 under first year head coach Brian Daboll, a promising sign of things to come. The Rangers are third in the Metropolitan Division, in line for a playoff berth. The Brooklyn Nets are fourth in the Eastern Conference, while the New York Knicks bring up the rear as the seventh seed, good for an appearance in the play-in tournament.
Forget Eden, Madison Square Hosts the Best Garden
Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks and Rangers—and St. John’s University’s men’s basketball team for certain home games—is an especially valuable asset for sports fans in the Big Apple.
The fourth sports venue to bear the famous name, the Garden is at the center of American sports fandom: located in Midtown Manhattan, the beating heart of the media capital of the world, convincing sports authorities to host their events there is a no-brainer.
As of January 30, Madison Square Garden is set to host a boxing match, three NCAA basketball games, the Big East tournament, a WWE supershow, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in the March Madness tournament…and that’s just in the next two months. The U.S. Darts Masters is slated for the weekend of June 2, further evidence of the wide variety of sporting events, traditional or otherwise, that are lured in by the Big Apple’s presence.
While there aren’t any MMA events scheduled at the Garden yet in 2023, fights gravitate towards cities with large populations and powerful gambling presences like Vegas and New York: they’ll be on the list before too long.
Wrestling, boxing and darts: if it’s anything short of a Formula One race, the Garden will find a way to host it.