New York Sports Betting Saw 31% YoY Wagers Surge

According to figures released by the New York State Gaming Commission, bettors in the state wagered $1.26 billion in July, down 14.3% from June’s $1.47 billion. Despite this decline, the handle was still 31.2% higher than in August 2023, when the handle was $1.11 billion.

Stronger Hold Drives Revenue Growth

The reduced handle is largely attributed to July being one of the quieter months for U.S. sports, with Major League Baseball (MLB) being the only major league in action.

Despite the drop in handle, New York’s mobile sports betting market experienced a 33.5% year-on-year increase in revenue, reaching $140.3 million.

The growth was driven by an improved hold rate across all operators, which increased to 11.1% in July, up from 9.1% in June. The stronger hold contributed to a 4.8% month-on-month revenue increase, indicating that operators were able to maintain profitability despite the lower betting volume.

FanDuel Leads the Market

FanDuel, operated by Flutter Entertainment, continued to dominate New York’s sports betting market in July. The platform generated $59.3 million in revenue from $482.5 million in total bets, achieving a 12.3% hold that outperformed the market average. DraftKings followed closely behind, reporting $48 million in revenue from $456.7 million in bets, with a hold of 10.5%.

The remaining operators showed a more competitive but smaller share of the market. Caesars saw a handle of $108.6 million, resulting in $10.8 million in revenue.

Fanatics reported $8.9 million in revenue from a $76.1 million handle, benefiting from an 11.7% hold. Meanwhile, BetMGM posted a handle of $89.2 million but generated only $8.8 million in revenue due to a lower hold of 9.7%.

Rush Street Interactive was the only other operator to exceed $1 million in revenue, with a handle of $35.4 million. On the other hand, Wynn Interactive struggled, posting just $51,222 in revenue from a handle of $936,926, placing it at the bottom of the market.

Wynn’s underperformance in July signals its impending exit from the market, as it will be replaced by Penn Entertainment’s ESPN Bet.

ESPN Bet, which acquired Wynn’s New York sports betting license in February, is preparing for its launch later this month.

Year-to-Date Performance

As of July 30, 2024, four months into the 2024-25 fiscal year, New York’s mobile sports betting handle has reached $6.67 billion, a 32.6% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

FanDuel and DraftKings continue to dominate, accounting for 76.5% of the total handle, or $5.10 billion. FanDuel led with $2.58 billion in handle, while DraftKings closely followed with $2.52 billion.

Revenue for the same period reached $661.4 million, up 32.3% year-on-year, with FanDuel and DraftKings contributing $541.7 million, or 81.9%, of the total revenue.