New York sports betting revenue rises despite handle falling to 2024-25 low

New York sports betting spend amounted to $1.26bn (£988.8m/€1.16bn) in July, according to the New York State Gaming Commission figures. This is 31.2% ahead of August 2023 but 14.3% behind the $1.47bn bet in June.

It is the lowest monthly handle since $1.11bn was wagered in August 2023.

July is traditionally one of the quieter months for US sports, with MLB the only league in action. This year, however, the final week of July did benefit from the start of the Olympic Games, while the US hosted football’s Copa América in the first half of the month, contributing to the year-on-year growth.

The growth in revenue was down to a stronger hold. Revenue hit $140.3m, up 33.5% year-on-year and 4.8% up month-on-month. Across all operators hold improved to 11.1%, compared to 9.1% for June 2024.

FanDuel continues New York sports betting dominance

Turning the state’s licensed operators, Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel remains the one to beat in New York. For July, FanDuel reported $59.3m in revenue from $482.5m in total bets, a 12.3% hold that beats the market average. DraftKings remains in second with handle of $456.7m and thanks to a 10.5% hold of $48m in revenue.

The chasing pack is increasingly bunched up. Caesars customers staked $108.6m in July for $10.8m in revenue. Fanatics’ 11.7% hold meant it surpassed BetMGM in terms of revenue, generating $8.9m from $76.1m in bets. The Entain-MGM Resorts joint venture reported $89.2m in handle, but a worse hold of 9.7% meant revenue came to $8.8m.

The only other operator to generate more than $1m in revenue was Rush Street Interactive, with $35.4m wagered and revenue of $35.4m.

The 51% GGR tax for New York sports betting meant operators kept just $68.8m of the $140.3m in revenue for July. The remaining $71.6m was allocated to education funding in the state.

ESPN Bet nears New York sports betting launch

At the bottom of the pile in July was Wynn Interactive, which posted $51,222 in revenue from a $936,926 handle. Later this month it will be replaced by Penn Entertainment’s ESPN Bet, which acquired Wynn’s New York sports betting licence in February.

Speaking on Penn’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday (8 August) CEO Jay Snowden talked up ESPN Bet’s prospects in the state. There are 10 million average monthly visitors to ESPN media sites and apps in New York State, Snowden said, allowing for a “healthy but cost-effective” approach to customer acquisition.

Penn is banking on a successful launch in New York amid investor concerns over ESPN Bet market share and the cost of competing against the established sports betting giants.

Year-to-date handle tops $6.67bn

New York’s financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March, meaning we’re four months into 2024-25. For the mobile sports betting in New York, total handle in the four months to 30 July amounted to $6.67bn, a 32.6% improvement on the prior year.

Wagers placed with FanDuel and DraftKings accounted for 76.5%, or $5.10bn, of the total. FanDuel’s handle was $2.58bn, or 38.7% of all wagers, and DraftKings $2.52bn (37.8%). That shows the dominance ESPN Bet will come up against in New York.

As for revenue, this reached $661.4m for the same period – up 32.3% year-on-year – with FanDuel and DraftKings generating $541.7m (81.9%) of all this. Online revenue at FanDuel topped $305.4m and DraftKings $236.3m.