New York finally produced an online weekly sports betting handle under $400 million.
Key Takeaways
- New York sportsbooks endured an expected handle drop with the Knicks out of the NBA playoffs.
- Operator revenue soared above $50 million for the fourth consecutive week behind a massive 13.9% hold.
- DraftKings and FanDuel accounted for 70% of the entire amount wagered for the week.
A 41-week streak came to an end during the week ending June 15 as the New York Gaming Commission reported that the nine online sportsbooks generated $390.8 million. It’s the first handle below $400 million since the last week in August 2024, right before the start of football season.
The run included 24 periods with handles of more than $500 million, including the first $600 million week ever in early January.
With the New York Knicks out of the NBA playoffs and the league down to its best-of-seven finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, a drop-off in action was expected. The week-over-week handle decreased 2.4%, but the amount wagered was up 7.7% compared to the same week in 2024.
Bringing the profits
The NBA postseason has been extremely profitable for Empire State sportsbooks.
Despite the lesser action, New York sports betting produced $54.3 million in gross revenue for online operators during the week ending June 15, a 6.2% increase from the previous period and the fourth consecutive week with more than $50 million in profits.
The last four weeks, including the final week of May, have produced $232.8 million in gross revenue. That would rank as the third-highest month ever right now. May generated a record $248.9 million in profits.
The week’s 13.9% hold was the highest since a 14.4% win rate in mid-September. A run of four consecutive holds of over 12.75% is the longest streak in New York’s sports betting history. The state’s operators went over 13% for the third time in the last four weeks.
Dominating at the top
DraftKings generated $142.6 million in wagers during the week ending June 15, the most of any operator in New York. FanDuel was second with $131.4 million, meaning the two biggest operators in the most lucrative U.S. market accounted for 70% of the total amount wagered for the week.
FanDuel’s 16.7% hold was better than DraftKings’ 13.8% win rate. That put FanDuel in first place with a gross revenue of $22 million, $2.2 million ahead of DraftKings. Both were up from the previous week.
FanDuel has surpassed $20 million in revenue in four of the last five weeks. DraftKings has produced nearly $19 million of profit in four consecutive weeks.
Down but up
Four of the other online sportsbooks saw their handle decrease from the previous week, while revenue increased.
Fanatics Sportsbook generated $4.4 million in revenue from a $34.9-million handle, New York’s third most in both categories. BetMGM cleared over $3.1 million from $27 million wagered in the week ending June 15. Caesars was one of the few operators to see a handle and revenue decrease, but the online sportsbook still hauled in $26.5 million in wagers and $3.3 million in profits.
ESPN BET saw a big uptick in wagers, taking in $15.5 million in bets, but a 4% hold produced less than $617,000, while BetRivers made more than $1 million on a $9.7-million handle.
During the same week that Resorts World Bet announced it was exiting the New York market at the end of June, the online sportsbook accepted less than $1 million in wagers for the first time since a week in late August 2023 and made just $53,688 in revenue.
