New York sports betting revenue reaches record high as NFL season begins

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The New York sports betting market woke up from a slow summer with a bang after posting a record month of revenue as the NFL season kicked off once again.

Per the New York State Gaming Commission, operators in the Empire State made $165.6m from trading in September, marking an increase of 15.6% year-over-year.

It is also just the second time that New York’s sports betting market has surpassed $160m, after a flurry of betting action during March Madness earlier this year.

Operators handled $1.76bn during September as bettors made their picks ahead of the NFL 2023/24 season. This marks an uptick of 40.8% YoY and is the second-highest handle in the market’s history after March 2023. 

Hold was 9.4% for September trading, which is often regarded as a fair-to-strong rate, but ahead of the NFL there is likely to be plenty of whole-season bets that players had made.

This meant revenue stood at $165.6m, a record for the state and an increase of 68.1% from August’s tally of $98.5m. 

Per operator, DraftKings was the market leader in terms of handle, with $710.5m wagered on the platform. Meanwhile, FanDuel was in second place, as bettors placed $682.5m on its sportsbook app. Rounding off the top three was Caesars, which generated $174m in bets.

Here is a list of other operators’ handle for September: 

BetMGM: $100.7m

Rush Street Interactive: $50m

PointsBet (A Fanatics Experience): $23.8m

Wynn Interactive: $10.9m

ResortWorld Bet: $6.8m

On the revenue side, FanDuel claimed top spot in the market back from DraftKings after posting much stronger margins through September. FanDuel made $76.9m from September trading, whilst DraftKings generated $61.4m in revenue. 

Caesars took third spot again but there was a massive drop off, as the sportsbook only made $12.6m in revenue last month. 

Here is a list of the other operators’ revenue: 

BetMGM: $8.2m

RSI: $4.2m

PointsBet: $1.6m

Wynn Interactive: $367k

ResortWorld Bet: $346k

After a record-setting month of activity, the New York sports betting operators made a net total of $81.1m last month, whilst a record total of $84.4m was paid out to the state in tax collections.