While much of the focus in New York online sports betting right now is on how ESPN Bet is doing in its first weeks in the market, Fanatics Sportsbook continues to quietly cement a foothold.
The operator, which took officially rebranded from PointsBet in March, smashed its monthly record for betting activity in the Empire State by posting an online sports wagering handle of $143.2 million in September. Last month was the third in a row in which Fanatics recorded a new record handle, following July ($76.1 million) and August ($93.0 million).
Much of that huge spike between August and September will have been the result of the typical frenzy of betting activity around the start of a new NFL season, for which Fanatics went all-in with a new marketing campaign. But it also seems to evidence the fact that Fanatics is finding its footing in the New York market. The September handle total means that Fanatics is closely rivaling BetMGM and Caesars for third place in the state behind FanDuel and DraftKings.
Those three sportsbooks were separated in handle by just $4 million. Caesars took $147.2 million worth of action last month, while BetMGM was under $700,000 higher than Fanatics’. However, Fanatics’ hold of just 5.9% was the lowest of any New York sportsbook other than ESPN Bet, yielding $8.4 million in gross gaming revenue.
Still, it’s the third month in a row in which Fanatics Sportsbook has made more than $8 million in New York.
Year-over-year, Fanatics’ handle in September 2024 was six times the $23.4 million in bets that its predecessor Pointsbet took in the same month last year, while the GGR total was more than five times PointsBet’s September 2023 number.
New York enjoys massive month amid NFL kickoff
Overall, September was a huge month for New York sportsbooks, as the New York State Gaming Commission reported that users bet more than $2 billion on sports online during the month.
According to the regulator’s historical figures, that made last month the second-biggest month in New York’s mobile sports betting history, behind only November 2023. It’s the fourth time the state’s online sports wagering has eclipsed $2 billion.
In terms of GGR, the state’s nine operators took more than $204 million, also the second-highest figure in history, this time behind January of this year. September’s total would have been more (although not much more) had ESPN Bet been live for more than just the final four days of the month after its delayed state launch.
FanDuel remains the emperor in the Empire State in terms of revenue, with nearly $98 million in winnings almost $30 million more than DraftKings, although the Boston-based operator took slightly more money ($788.3 million vs. $784.2 million).
In its first days launching in New York, ESPN Bet took $4 million in bets and earned not much more than $100,000 in GGR during its four September days. As of Oct. 6, the PENN-owned sportsbook had taken just $1.3 million in gross revenue from $12.1 million in bets across its first 10 days of New York operation.
