A week after New York’s online sportsbooks turned their third-biggest weekly profit ever to kick off 2026, bettors fought back during the NFL playoffs’ wild-card round.
Key Takeaways
- New York sports betting operators experienced a small week-over-week and year-over-year decrease in dollars wagered.
- FanDuel was the only Empire State online sportsbook to produce a double-digit hold for the week.
- BetMGM got hammered by bettors again.
Following the in-state Bills' win over the Jaguars as slight underdogs, New York's mobile operators saw gross revenue plummet nearly 50%, going from $74 million during the last week of the NFL regular season to $37.3 million in the week ending Jan. 11.
It was just the third weekly profit haul of under $49 million for sportsbooks since the middle of October, as their hold fell four points to 6.8%.
The New York State Gaming Commission reported that bettors wagered $549.6 million, a 4.5% decrease from the previous week and a 2% drop compared to last year's Wild Card Weekend. These figures don’t account for the Texans’ Monday Night Football win over the Steelers.
Underdogs went 4-2 in the first set of NFL playoff contests, with three winning outright, and only two games went over the point total.
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Big drops
FanDuel accepted just over $200 million in wagers, nearly matching the previous week, but the period ending Jan. 11 only produced $20.3 million in gross revenue from a 10.1% hold. That win rate is still well above the industry average, but FanDuel’s hold the previous week was over 17% and produced $34.3 million in profits.
Still, it’s the 14th time in the last 16 weeks that bettors have wagered over $200 million with the online operator.
DraftKings had a much tougher week. The online sportsbook generated just $9 million in revenue from a $181.4-million handle, leaving DraftKings with a hold below 5%. It’s the lowest weekly profit haul for DraftKings in over a dozen periods, and it’s just the third time revenue dipped below $10 million this football season.
Holding low
None of the other six online sportsbooks were able to turn a double-digit hold during the week. BetMGM continued to be a punching bag for bettors, producing just $503,643 in revenue on a $58.7-million handle. It’s the fourth consecutive week that BetMGM has generated at least $57 million in wagers, but the operator hasn’t had a weekly win rate over 5% during that span.
Fanatics was able to use an 8.7% hold to haul in $4 million on a $45.8-million handle, while Caesars struggled with a 4.8% win rate on over $37 million in wagers. BetRivers and theScore Bet both reached $11 million in amount bet, but neither came close to even $1 million in profits. Bally Bet produced a 7.1% hold on a $3.5-million handle.
