The New York State Gaming Commission revealed on Friday that the state’s sports betting handle for April came close to hitting $2 billion, landing at approximately $1.97 billion, marking the fourth time in history it narrowly missed this milestone.
The April figures received a boost from revenue collected during the final week of March, which carried over into April’s accounts due to New York’s fiscal year starting on April 1, revealed Sports Handle citing the New York State Gaming Commission. Consequently, the month-over-month handle saw a rare 6.2% increase from March, along with a 20.6% rise in sports betting revenue, totaling $184 million.
This handle ranks fourth nationally in the post-PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) era, maintaining New York’s dominance in the top 10 all-time totals. Similarly, the revenue total also holds the fourth position overall, with New York claiming eight of the top-10 monthly operator winnings, while New Jersey and Ohio hold one apiece.
Compared to April 2023, the handle saw a significant 27.1% increase, contributing to a 32.1% surge in revenue, driven by a 9.3% hold. The $7.57 billion in accepted bets for the first four months of 2024 reflects a 14.4% rise from the previous year, generating $679.6 million in revenue, an increase of 21.1%.
Of the $93.8 million in taxes collected by the state, the lion’s share came from New York’s nine mobile sports betting operators, except for a minimal portion of $27,220. The year-to-date receipts of $345.1 million surpassed last year’s figures by $59.6 million, tracking towards an expected total exceeding $1 billion, doubling former Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s initial projections upon the arrival of sports betting apps in January 2022.
Fan Duel Tops the Charts
FanDuel saw a resurgence in its performance with an 11.7% hold, breaking away from two consecutive months below 10%. This achievement, a rarity in the early months of mobile betting in New York, resulted in $91 million in revenue from $780.5 million worth of wagers, pushing its total revenue in the Empire State above $1.8 billion.
DraftKings experienced a substantial 42.7% year-over-year increase in handle, reaching $737 million, with an 8.6% hold contributing to $63.2 million in revenue for April, marking the fourth instance it surpassed $60 million in monthly revenue in the past eight months.
Caesars, however, observed a decline in its market share with its handle representing only 8.1% of the total mobile handle. Despite clearing $400 million in total revenue, its 5.6% win rate was notably lower compared to March.
BetMGM reported its highest handle since April 2022, totaling $130.2 million, with a 7% hold, resulting in $9.1 million in revenue, the fourth-best performance in 28 months.
Fanatics Sportsbook, in its inaugural month as an operator in New York, recorded $5.6 million in revenue, setting an all-time high, including its predecessor, PointsBet. With a 7.5% hold, it secured a 3% mobile handle market share for the first time since February 2022.
BetRivers’ month-over-month figures remained relatively stable, with a slight increase in handle to $67.1 million but a decrease in revenue to $3.3 million, yielding a 4.9% win rate.
In the first week of May, the nine mobile operators collectively recorded $484.1 million in wagers, marking the first time it cracked the bottom of the Top 10 all-time out of 122 weeks of reporting by the NYSGC. DraftKings led with its second-highest week of action at $217.2 million in handle despite a modest 3.2% hold.
FanDuel contributed over half of the $23.1 million in operator winnings for the week, with $12.6 million, maintaining a 7.5% win rate. Fanatics Sportsbook reported an $18.1 million handle, pushing the overall total above $1 billion when including PointsBet’s numbers.