New York Sportsbooks with a Third Solid Week in a Row

The summer season is almost at its end and online sportsbooks in New York State have started to find some consistency in handle and revenue. New York State Gaming Commission’s latest report on the market, for the week ending August 27, 2023, reveals that the operators have recorded a combined handle of US$212.2 million and revenue of US$21.4 million.

The Empire State has been accepting legal online bets since January 2022, when it officially launched its mobile sports betting market. Despite its limited operator model of nine sportsbooks, the local sector delivered just over US$700 million in tax revenue for its first 12 months. With another US$200 million in tax coming from operator licensing fees.

Operators Find Consistency in the End of August

For the seven-day period ending on August 27, 2023, the NYSGC, which oversees the digital market, reported that the operators had a total wagering handle of US$211.2 million. This was a slight 9% downgrade from the previous week. Meanwhile, gross gaming revenue hit US$21.4 million, or 1% lower than the previous period and up 1% from two weeks ago.

According to the commission’s report, operators recorded a solid double-digit hold for the week of 10.1%, which was above 10% for the first time in August. It also marked the sixth week in a row with both handle above US$200 million and revenue of over US$20 million. Both indicators were up slightly from the same week in 2022, with volume being 9% up and GRR spiking by 9.7%.

FanDuel in the Spotlight Again

For the week of August 27, 2023, FanDuel remained the top app for sports betting among New Yorkers, as the company reported the most significant wagering volume with US$83.7 million as well as top in gross proceeds with US$9.8 million. It recorded a hold of 11.7%. Its competitor, DraftKings got the second-most in volume with US$75.1 million and pre-tax revenue of US$7.4 million.

In the meantime, Caesars Sportsbook was in third with betting activity for the week clocked at US$24.8 million, revenue of US$1.6 million and a win rate of 6.4%. BetMGM was close behind with earnings of US$1.3 million and a handle of US$14.7 million. The week was rather difficult for PointsBet which made only US$35,830 in revenue from a betting volume of U$3.9 million.

Latest from the Sports Betting Scene

Due to the success of the mobile sports betting market, New York lawmakers are exploring building on it and legalizing Super Bowl Square pools at bars and restaurants. Assemblymember Jarett Gandolfo introduced two legislations, that if passed would legalize the option. However, this would also need a change in the state constitution.

In early August 2023, in a register update, NYSGC denied a commenter’s request to change Daily Fantasy Sports rules to allow pick ’em-style player games. NYSGC says a contest offering essentially sports betting, which is authorized for licensees and regulated pursuant to Racing Law Article 13 cannot properly be characterized as IFS since an operator labels it as such.

Source: Senkiw, Brad “Sports Betting Revenue in New York Maintains Steady Growth for Third Consecutive Week” Covers, September 1, 2023