New York’s July Sports Betting Revenues See FanDuel Lead DraftKings by Tight Margin

Article ByDavid Weir

August 14, 2023

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

New York’s sports betting revenues for July have been published by the state’s Gaming Commission in its latest monthly report.

New York state bettors spent significantly less in June, with overall handle down 17.5% to $962 million. That marks the first time since last August that the largest sports betting market in the U.S. has fallen below $1 billion in total handle.

However, July’s overall revenues were up 1.3% on June’s figures, and up 20% year-on-year. This reflects the national picture in which sportsbooks took a hammering from bettors on upset results across NHL and NBA finals in June, but saw revenues recover in July.

The month in New York sports betting played out with fierce competition between industry giants FanDuel and DraftKings. Both operators posted almost identical revenue figures, with only a marginal difference separating them.

Related: The best online sportsbooks in New York State, ranked and reviewed

Close Race at the Top

In July, FanDuel reported a handle of $384.6 million, generating revenue of $41.09 million. DraftKings, on the other hand, wasn’t far behind. With a handle of $340.4 million, its revenue stood at $41.08 million, a mere $8,655 (or 0.021%) less than FanDuel.

Interestingly, DraftKings boasted a 12% hold, slightly edging out FanDuel’s 10.7% win rate.

In June, DraftKings overtook FanDuel in monthly handle for the first time. But Flutter-owned FanDuel snapped back to regain its most popular sportsbook title in July.

The two market-leading operators dominated. But a few other operators remain relatively popular with New York bettors.

Caesars, for instance, reported a handle of $111.1 million and saw its revenue jump to $10.6 million in July. BetMGM, despite a month-over-month drop in handle to $65 million, managed to pull in a revenue of $6.7 million, only slightly less than its June figures.

Resorts World Troubles

At the other end of the pile, the usually bottom-of-the-pack Bally Bet was offline for the month, as it upgraded its platform via a new deal with European developer Kambi.

That meant the least-popular sportsbook for New York’s bettors in July was Resorts World Bet, with a total handle of $4.17 million and revenues of $496k.

Despite that, the operator actually posted its best hold percentage of any month since opening in the New York market.

Those figures have come at a tough time for its owner and operator, Malaysia-based Resorts World, and its U.S investment. It has had two high-profile controversies at its flagship Resorts World Las Vegas venue in the past weeks, including accusations staff worked with a recently-busted illegal Californian sportsbook.

The overall mobile handle in New York for July was $962.1 million, marking a decline from the previous month’s $1.16 billion.

Back in New York’s fully legal market, the total revenue for online betting reached $105.1 million, reflecting a 43% spike from July 2022.

The state’s coffers also benefited from all those sports betting activities. New York State collected $53.6 million in taxes from the sector. After accounting for the state’s 51% tax rate, sportsbooks took home a combined $51.5 million.