New York’s mobile sports betting industry shows no sign of slowing. In October, operators took the highest amount of money for a single month in state and US history.
Latest figures released by the New York State Gaming Commission report that the nine legal NY sportsbooks it regulates achieved a handle of $2.3 billion last month.
The rate of operator dollar retention fell compared to last month, likely attributed to rising customer win rates. A combined New York State mobile sports betting Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for October of £176.3 million was down almost 14% against September.
With November numbers so far remaining buoyant, can another record be set this month?
September's mobile sports betting handle had been boosted by early football season wagering activity at the leading NFL betting sites and that month closed out on $2.07 billion.
October’s total of all bets taken surged with the 2024 NFL term getting into its stride and the NBA season hitting full swing. Plus the MLB season reached its climax. The Yankees featuring in the World Series will have no doubt added their share to the month’s betting handle.
That October 2024 betting handle of $2.3 billion represented 6% growth year-on-year. The GGR total was $35 million lower than the current recorded high mark of £211 million set in January of this year. October’s GGR total was still up 6.6% year-over-year though.
There was no change at the top of the tree for New York’s biggest sportsbooks in October. Leading the line for the month was FanDuel with a handle of $907.6 million ahead of DraftKings on $813.7 million. The pair combined together for a New York market share of almost 75%.
Their respective GGR postings were $77.3 million and $58.9 million. That was a drop of nearly 16% for FanDuel compared with September and a fall of 15% for DraftKings. A lack of NFL upsets will have contributed to the uptick in customer winnings.
October was also notable for being the first full month in which ESPN BET has been live in the Empire State. A handle of $41 million for the Penn Entertainment-powered sportsbook yielded a GGR of $3.2 million. That put ESPN BET in seventh place in the NY sports betting operator standings for the month, only ahead of small players Bally Bet and Resorts World Bet.
Elsewhere, Fanatics Sportsbook enjoyed its best-ever month in New York. Fanatics, which entered the New York market in February 2024, jumped into third place behind FanDuel and DraftKings with its handle of $178 million and a GGR of just above $12 million.
Fanatics leaped ahead of Caesars with a handle of $155 million and a GGR of $11 million, as well as BetMGM’s NY sportsbook on a GGR of $9.5 million from a handle of $161 million.
Moving on, the latest report of the New York State Gaming Commission on Friday, November 8 revealed to the week ending 11/03/24 an amalgamated handle of $558.4 million for all New York licensed mobile sports betting operators.
Taking in the tail end of October in that week plus just a few days of November, that seven-day handle figure was the highest in all but one of the weeks since the NFL season started in September. The eleventh month of the calendar year and the 8th month of the financial year could yet surpass the New York record just set.
