New York State’s April Sports Betting Handle Tops $1.5B, FanDuel and DraftKings Lead

Article ByDavid Weir

May 9, 2023

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Posted in: New York Gambling News, US Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

The New York State Gaming Commission has released the April 2023 edition of its monthly reports on mobile sports betting revenues.

The Empire State’s mobile betting operators took in more than $1.54 billion in bets over March’s totals. That’s 10% higher than April of 2022. It is down from the $1.79 billion wagered in New York in March. But that is usually a bumper time for sports betting, particularly with the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament in full swing.

The two market-leading national sportsbooks, FanDuel and DraftKings, took in $1.142 billion between them in April, accounting for 72.5% of the state’s handle. However, DraftKings grew its market share with a 57.9% increase in handle over 2022’s figure of $516 million.

That total handle generated the state of New York just shy of $78 million in taxes for the month. At that pace, in just three or four months from now, it could become the first newly legalized US gambling market to rake in a billion in taxes for the state.

Related: Best New York online casinos, reviewed

Pack Leaders

The dominance of FanDuel and DraftKings in New York’s April sports betting followed national trends.

FanDuel took in $626 million in total handle from NY bettors during April, holding on to just under $71 million of that as gross gaming revenues, or GGR. Meanwhile, DraftKings took in $516 million, converting that into $44.9 million in revenues.

The two operators saw their total handle grow over April 2022, but fall from March.

On both counts, though, DraftKings is gaining ground on FanDuel. It took in 57.9% more in bets than last April, compared to FanDuel’s 4.5% growth over that time.

Although both declined on March’s total handle, DraftKing’s tally declined 14%, while FanDuel’s dropped around 18%.

That paints a picture of a close race. Nationally, DraftKings is seemingly following a strategy of tolerating lower revenue holds in order to grow its customer base. For example, it sometimes uses loss-leading promotions like free bets or advanced odds.

Best of the Rest

New York State residents’ next-favorite online sportsbook in April was Caesars at $185 million in handle, followed by BetMGM at $126.7 million.

Both operators experienced a decline in year-on-year revenues, as did all of the other licensed mobile sportsbooks in New York.

Bottom of the pack in revenues was Bally Bet, which kept just $28,731 in revenues from a $2.3 million handle.

Not much better was Resorts World, owned by Malaysian-based Genting. It converted just $71,358 of revenues from its $7.9 million total handle. That’s a 0.9% hold, suggesting it may have offered some very high value promotions, or got outsmarted by bettors en masse.

That meant Resorts World paid $36 thousand in taxes for the month, or about 0.021% of the state’s total.

The biggest decline in revenues fell on operator PointsBet. Their total handle of $20.6 million was down nearly 50% from April of last year, although they did increase their hold slightly to 5%. Not good news overall for the Australian-based parent company, which announced in April its US division was up for sale.

Sports Betting Empire

These monthly figures put New York in third place for sports betting handle since 2018, when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 passed and caused a wave of post-PASPA legalization handle at $23.3 billion.

Only New Jersey and Nevada have seen more sports betting action over that time, and those two states have had associations with gambling for many years.

This is the ninth time in 16 months that New York sports bettors have placed more than $1.5 billion in bets.

Legal gambling is also set to expand even further in the state. Half a dozen international and US casino operators are competing for an expected one of three casino gaming venue licenses that will soon be offered out.

They include Las Vegas Sands with a planned Long Island resort, and Caesars Entertainment, which wants to open up a casino in New York City’s Times Square.