New York’s eight online sports betting operators produced their most profitable first week of NCAA Tournament games ever in the most lucrative U.S. market.
Key Takeaways
- Empire State online sportsbooks won back 10.4% of a $554.7-million handle.
- The first week of the NCAA Tournament was chalky again, but not as bad as last year.
- FanDuel’s hold reached 12% for the first time since January.
The Empire State’s handle remained stagnant compared to the previous year, but gross revenue spiked nearly 30% to $57.6 million during the week ending March 22, the New York State Gaming Commission reported on Thursday. While the first two rounds of March Madness were still mostly chalk, a few more upsets than the 2025 tourney produced a 10.4% hold, well above last year’s 8% win rate.
Favorites went 29-19 against the spread and went on a 22-game outright winning streak. Texas was the only double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16. However, Florida was the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated, a boon for sportsbooks, and No. 5 Wisconsin didn’t make it out of the first round.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google accountThe latest weekly New York online sports betting handle reached $554.7 million, down just 0.1% year over year, and it was the third consecutive week with at least $500 million in wagers, the longest streak in nearly two months.
Winning big
FanDuel and DraftKings both turned double-digit holds during the first weekend of the NCAA tourney, something neither accomplished this time last year.
FanDuel won back $25.2 million on a $199.2-million handle, its largest since the week of the Super Bowl. The online operator’s win rate reached 12% for the first time since the end of January.
DraftKings won 10.5% on a $177.9-million handle and surpassed $18 million in gross revenue for the third consecutive week for the first time since December 2025.
Fanatics struggles
Fanatics generated $74.7 million in wagers for the week ending March 22. It’s the second consecutive week above $70 million and the highest handle since late August 2025, but the online operator only won back 6%.
BetMGM only produced a 7.4% hold on a $41.7-million handle, while Caesars fell just short of a double-digit win rate with $3.5 million in revenue on $37.1 million in wagers. BetRivers enjoyed a solid 10.8% hold on an $11.3-million handle, while theScore Bet reached 9.2% on $9.3 million in wagers. Bally Bet produced the state’s highest win rate, getting back 13.9% on a $3.2-million handle.
