The nine legal New York sportsbooks posted their highest profit figures to date in the week ending 15 October as NFL underdogs punished the state’s favorite backers.
Few saw the NY Jets recording a second consecutive victory up against the strongly favored Philadelphia Eagles in week 6, nor did many forecast the Cleveland Browns edging out the 49ers who had previously been unbeaten this season.
In NFL week 6 home teams won just half the games played, while low scoring contests flunked overs wagers.
Such results will partly explain New York betting sites achieving record Gross Gaming Revenue returns of $62,042,634 in the second full week of October.
GGR is heavily influenced by big individual bettor wins and losses as well as aggregated sums, all suggesting New Yorkers placing bets during the week performed poorly. It’s likely that those betting on the NFL contributed significantly to this.
Betting operator’s profit numbers were a jump of over 50 per cent on the previous seven days and up $5.4 million on the year’s previous best recorded, which followed the NFL season’s September opening slate.
New York sportsbooks certainly got their market and odds right to the reporting period ending 15 October. That total GGR came off the back of a modest rise of $9 million in handle against the previous week, with hold almost doubling from 7.9% to 15.4%.
FanDuel was once again the big winner in the week ending 15 October with a near-40 per cent share of total handle. The Flutter brand took almost $14 million more in wagers than its great rival DraftKings during the mid-month week.
FanDuel’s profit of $29.5 million was its second-highest this fiscal year, achieving a hold of 39.7 per cent. DraftKings recorded a GGR of $23 million with a 36.2 per cent hold percentage.
The full figures for New York’s new record-breaking profit week (to October 15) are below. Note that BallyBet remains excluded as it refreshes its digital platforms with no word yet on a NY relaunch date.
Operator | Handle | GGR | Hold (GGR / Handle) | Handle Market Share |
FanDuel | $159,940,580 | $29,551,595 | 18.48% | 39.72% |
DraftKings | $145,949,308 | $23,033,979 | 15.78% | 36.24% |
Caesars | $42,474,081 | $4,923,947 | 11.59% | 10.55% |
BetMGM | $22,310,019 | $3,117,449 | 13.97% | 5.54% |
BetRivers | $22,705,350 | $608,338 | 2.68% | 5.64% |
PointsBet | $5,500,124 | $383,836 | 6.98% | 1.37% |
WynnBET | $2,409,323 | $281,061 | 11.67% | 0.60% |
Resorts | $1,430,567 | $142,428 | 9.96% | 0.36% |
Total | $402,719,352 | $62,042,633 | 15.41% | - |
Several high-ranking executives from New York’s sportsbooks have come out in public this year to discuss their brand’s route to profit In a state with the highest tax rate in the nation of 51 per cent and with fierce competition, that has proved to be challenging for many.
Buoyed by a strong first quarter this year, Caesars CEO Tom Reeg warned of the dangers of unsustainable betting promos after a year of losses in 2022 as he forecasted profit by late 2023.
BetMGM and DraftKings echoed those Caesars’ predictions as they made their plans to hit profitability from fall onwards, however those sportsbooks continue to offer generous sports betting promos in New York.
Similar proclamations were heard from FanDuel with hopes to operate in the black throughout this year, while WynnBet has rationalized its US operations in a bid to stem losses.
Meanwhile, PointsBet has now departed the Empire State after a disappointing New York showing since its launch in early 2022. Having recently been acquired by Fanatics, it’s likely we’ll see a new version of the sportsbook launching soon in the state.
With NFL week 7 now closed and the start of the NBA season to come this week we could continue to see impressive profit figures for New York’s sportsbooks.
The opening salvos of the return to top-class basketball are often difficult to call. If the oddsmakers get their pricing on point when NBA betting gets into full-swing, further record GGR numbers may be likely.
