New Yorkers have bet $1.625 billion in just 23 days to make mobile NY sports betting the biggest market in the US.
The last full week in January kicked off an astonishing launch for New York sportsbooks, which already broke the $1.3 billion handle record set by NJ sportsbooks in October.
The six live operators took $449.3 million in bets during the week ending Jan. 30 and held 4.8% for $21.6 million in gross sports betting revenue.
Those sportsbooks generated $11 million in taxes last week based on New York’s 51% tax rate. That brings total taxes due to New York to $57.6 million for the first 23 days.
NY sports betting figures by operator
There was a new handle leader last week as FanDuel Sportsbook overtook Caesars Sportsbook, which cut its initial offer of more than $3,000 after opening week.
| Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $141,786,622 | ($564,868) | -0.4% | ($288,083) |
| Caesars | $128,143,427 | $14,136,472 | 11.0% | $7,209,601 |
| DraftKings | $102,185,797 | $5,347,568 | 5.2% | $2,727,260 |
| BetMGM | $37,503,630 | $710,277 | 1.9% | $362,241 |
| PointsBet | $29,465,195 | $2,336,813 | 7.9% | $1,191,775 |
| BetRivers | $10,229,325 | ($394,458) | -3.9% | ($201,174) |
| Total | $449,313,996 | $21,571,804 | 4.8% | $11,001,620 |
Of course, FanDuel was far from a revenue leader last week, as both it and BetRivers reported negative revenue. These are gross revenue figures, though, meaning promos paid to players are counted as taxable revenue. It is likely most of the operators’ net revenues are lower than their gross totals.
Because of that and the fact Caesars opened with an offer three times that of FanDuel and DraftKings, Caesars was far and away the handle and revenue leader for those first 23 days. Those totals will grow slightly for the official January report as the last day of the month still needs to be included.
| Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caesars | $615,504,344 | $55,887,328 | 9.1% | $28,502,537 |
| FanDuel | $501,791,984 | $23,614,142 | 4.7% | $12,043,212 |
| DraftKings | $367,661,238 | $27,098,781 | 7.4% | $13,820,378 |
| BetMGM | $78,072,899 | $3,224,980 | 4.1% | $1,644,740 |
| BetRivers | $32,424,318 | $837,035 | 2.6% | $426,888 |
| PointsBet | $29,465,195 | $2,336,813 | 7.9% | $1,191,775 |
| Total | $1,624,919,978 | $112,999,079 | 7.0% | $57,629,530 |
Good luck, NY newcomers
As expected, most of New York’s first movers are still dominating the market.
In the week ending Jan. 30, three operators took a combined 82.8% of handle:
- Caesars: 31.6%
- FanDuel: 28.5%
- DraftKings: 22.7%
The other three made up the remaining 17.2%:
- BetMGM: 8.3%
- PointsBet: 6.6%
- BetRivers: 2.3%
Analyzing final sportsbook group
It is not entirely fair to compare BetMGM and PointsBet with the slow performance of BetRivers so far, either. BetRivers was live at launch with the other three operators. This was the second week of operations for BetMGM and the first for PointsBet.
WynnBET – which is reportedly for sale at a discount price – launched Feb. 3. That means just Resorts World Bet and Bally Bet are left to launch. Bally Bet will likely be the last to launch as it will miss both Super Bowl betting and March Madness betting with its planned April launch.
Resorts World Bet is working to launch as soon as possible, a spokesperson told Play NY last week.
Addabbo thrilled with NY start
Sen. Joe Addabbo, one of the architects of New York sports betting, issued a statement Friday:
“When we brought mobile sports betting to New York, we had confidence it was going to be a success, but to be able to break the national record of total handle for sports betting in a single month in our very first month, with primarily only six sportsbooks, is both rewarding and exciting.
“Breaking this record proves that New York was ready for mobile sports betting and we are providing our state with a new revenue, educational and addiction funding source. It also can give us an indication of where we go from here, especially with the Super Bowl within our sights.”
