New York sports betting operators claimed mobile handle of more than $2.1 billion in November, setting a national record for the second consecutive month, the New York State Gaming Commission reported Friday
The final figures will not be known until the NYSGC releases figures from the state’s four retail sportsbooks, though that total of roughly $10 million will merely polish off the Empire State’s second straight month with more than $2 billion of accepted wagers. It became the only state to reach the benchmark in October, and last month’s handle from sports betting apps increased by 5.1%.
Despite the month-over-month bump, mobile sports betting revenue slid 9.3% to $150.9 million as the public finally held FanDuel in check to some degree. Its 7.5% hold was barely above the collective win rate of 7.2%. The latter was the fourth-lowest percentage in 23 months of mobile wagering in New York and the worst for operators since the all-time low of 6.9% in June 2022.
WynnBET became the second operator to finish with a monthly loss from sports betting as customers came out $312,427 ahead on nearly $11.3 million in accepted bets. It is the largest monthly loss recorded among the state’s nine mobile options, with Bally Bet having paid out $31,467 above its $1.5 million handle in October 2022.
FanDuel, DraftKings set all-time handle highs
New York’s sports betting sites are led by FanDuel and DraftKings, as the two leviathans combined for close to $1.66 billion of the online handle. FanDuel blew past its October record of $891.9 million to nearly $925.4 million — accounting for 43.9% of the overall digital handle. That volume alone would rank 10th nationally in 2023 as a state total outside New York.
While FanDuel’s handle was up 43.2% compared to 12 months ago, the $69.2 million in revenue was down 11.6%. FanDuel’s 7.5% hold was its lowest in a month since its all-time low of 4.1% in February 2022, and it was more than 4.6 percentage points lower compared to November 2022. FanDuel did surpass $700 million in revenue this year and entered the final month of 2023 with a hold just shy of 10.4%.
DraftKings had an even higher year-over-year bounce in handle as the $732.1 million was an increase of 46.8% and topped its previous high of $710.5 million in September. It nearly matched FanDuel’s hold, landing at just over 7.4%, to claim $54.3 million in winnings and top $500 million for the year.
Sign Up For The Sports Handle Newsletter!
DraftKings also topped $6 billion handle for the 2023 calendar year, and the 8.4% hold crafted this year has led to revenue already being 42.9% higher than the $354.6 million accumulated in all of 2022. While accounting for 34.7% worth of all accepted wagers in New York for the month, DraftKings also moved above $10 billion in all-time handle in the state.
Caesars grabbed third place in both handle and revenue, generating $200 million-plus handle for the first time since March and finishing with $11.6 million in revenue from a 5.7% win rate. Despite its year-over-year handle modestly increasing 2.3% to $205 million, its market share dropped from 12.9% to 9.7%.
BetMGM was the fourth and final mobile operator with a nine-figure handle in November, totaling $120.6 million worth of accepted wagers to top $1 billion for 2023. It finished with $7.9 million in winnings on the strength of a hold of 6.6%.
WynnBET’s November to forget
Now operating in just four states, WynnBET gained the unwanted distinction in November of being the first New York mobile operator to have a three-week losing streak. Bettors came out a combined $329,360 ahead on $8.2 million wagered from Nov. 6-26. It only generated less than $17,000 in revenue the other nine days of betting in November and finished with a minus 2.8% hold.
November’s losses wiped out all but $935 of October’s revenue, and WynnBET has claimed less than $4.4 million in revenue from $105.6 million handle this year. The 4.2% year-to-date hold is the lowest among the nine operators by more than one full percentage point.
In contrast, PointsBet had the highest hold of any mobile book in November at 8.9%, keeping more than $2.4 million of the $27.2 million wagered. It was the best month for PointsBet since a year-high $3.1 million in revenue in January, but Fanatics has work to do to improve its acquisition’s standing in the Empire State in 2024. PointsBet’s year-to-date handle of $282.1 million is down 26.4% versus 2022, and it has accounted for less than 1.7% of the nearly $17.1 billion wagered online in New York this year.
Though BetRivers could not match its October surge in handle to $114.2 million, the $76.6 million generated in November was easily its second best overall. Its revenue climbed to an all-time high of about $30,000 shy of $5 million, as its 6.5% hold was nearly 3.6 percentage points higher than the previous month.
Bally Bet resumed taking action after an absence of more than four months to migrate its platform to Kambi. It accepted $4.3 million worth of wagers over the final two weeks of November, its best full-month total since entering the marketplace in July 2022. The $234,163 in winnings was also a new best, topping the $207,727 accumulated in March.