New York sports betting handle hits 10-month low in June

Total monthly handle in New York for June amounted to $1.47bn (£1.15bn/€1.36bn). This is 25.6% up from the same month last year but 25.4% behind $1.97bn in May this year.

New York online sports betting spend has not fallen to this level since consumers wagered $1.11bn in August 2023.

There was a similar story for New York in terms of gross gaming revenue. For June, this hit $133.9m, a total 29.0% higher year-on-year but 34.1% short of May’s total. The month traditionally quieter for betting, with the NBA and NFL finals concluding in the first few weeks. Neither competition had a New York team battling for the title.

Incidentally, this total was only marginally higher than the $131.4m posted in February this year, another quiet period after the Super Bowl. That low revenue total for February was the only thing stopping June’s GGR marking another 10-month low.

FanDuel remains the operator to beat in New York

FanDuel continues to lead the New York market. For June, the Flutter Entertainment-owned operator posted $67.1m in revenue from $571.3m in total wagers.

This resulted in a tax contribution of $34.2m, meaning FanDuel has paid $998.3m into state coffers since mobile sports betting went live in January 2022. A week into July, it is likely that total has now exceeded $1.00bn.

DraftKings placed second with $40.9m from a $521.6m handle.

There was a tight battle for the final podium position. Caesars led the chasing pack with customers staking $127.7m, leaving $6.8m in revenue. BetMGM followed with $6.8m from $100.6m wagered, narrowly ahead of Fanatics.

Fanatics, which launched on 29 February this year, reported handle of $67.3m, lower than Caesars or BetMGM, but a far better hold of 9.96% resulted in revenue of $6.7m.

Rush Street Interactive was the only other of the state’s nine operators to post more than $1.0m in monthly revenue. For June, it reported $2.5m from $68.8m in total wagers.

Rounding up the final three, BallyBet generated $658,294 from a $6.9m handle, Resorts World $572,891 from $7.4m, and Wynn Interactive $66,665 off $1.5m.

US sports betting enters its quiet period

The summer months are traditionally a quieter period for sports betting not just in New York but the wider US. With the lack of major US-based sports events at this time of the year, this leaves consumers with far less betting options than the rest of the year.

This year, players only really had the NBA and NHL finals to bet on, with the MLB season not traditionally a driver of wagering activity. There were some other highlights in the form of horse racing’s Belmont Stakes, golf’s US Open and the Copa América football tournament, which is taking place in the US for only the second time.

There are events further afield that may draw some from US consumers, such as the Euro 2024 football tournament in Europe and cycling’s Tour de France. In addition, the ongoing MLB season offers some betting options to plauers.

In fact, June is usually the strongest of the summer months. If previous years are anything to go by, these numbers will decline further in July before recovering slightly in August. From September, when the NFL kicks off, the market heats up again.