Despite the weekly sports betting handle continuing to climb in October, New York’s online sportsbooks endured significant revenue decline compared to the previous period.
Key Takeaways
- New York mobile operators made just $32.5 million a week after grossing their second-highest total ever.
- Customer-friendly results from a strong week by NFL favorites led to the decline.
- Neither FanDuel nor DraftKings reached a hold of 6%.
Due to a customer-friendly Week 7 in the NFL, mobile operators produced $32.5 million in gross revenue during the week ending Oct. 19, a 52.8% week-over-week decrease.
The latest period was a letdown for Empire State sportsbooks, which were coming off their highest-grossing week of 2025 and second-best ever in revenue. NFL favorites, however, covered nine games and went 11-1 outright on the final day of the week ending Oct. 19, sending profits plummeting.
It’s the third-lowest grossing week since the football season began, and operators got hit similarly during the same week last year when they hauled in just $10.4 million in revenue on a handle of over $548 million.
Heavy betting
Volume certainly wasn’t a problem. The New York Gaming Commission reported that online sportsbooks generated $564.3 million in wagers for the week ending Oct. 19, the third highest since the NFL season began. In a week that also featured MLB’s NLCS and ALCS, wagering was up 1.8% from the previous period.
However, bettors cleaned up, cutting the previous win rate in half with a 6.2% hold during the week. It’s the second time in three weeks that operators won back less than the 7% industry standard.
The betting volume should continue to increase in late October and heading into November. The NBA’s regular season got underway Oct. 21, and the World Series began Oct. 24.
Struggles at top
FanDuel and DraftKings took the brunt of the bettors’ revenge. Neither operator produced a win rate above 6%.
FanDuel accepted $211.7 million in wagers for the week, its second-highest handle this football season. However, the online sportsbook only won back 5.4%, finishing with $11.4 million in gross revenue, which is down $20 million from the previous week and is the lowest profit haul over the last two months.
DraftKings didn’t fare much better. A $198.4-million handle only returned $11.7 million in revenue. It’s the fourth time over the last six weeks that DraftKings made under $20 million in profit.
Low holds
No online sportsbook recorded a double-digit hold for the week. Just two (BetMGM and BetRivers) got a win rate over 8%, while ESPN BET and Caesars didn’t get above 5%.
Fanatics Sportsbook made just $2.7 million from a $45.1-million handle, the third highest in New York for the week. BetMGM made a higher profit, hauling in $3.4 million off a $41.8-million handle.
Caesars was the only other New York operator to reach $30 million in handle, while ESPN BET and BetRivers both generated more than $11 million in wagers each. Bally Bet kept a respectable 7% of its $4.6-million handle for the week.
