Record-Breaking Wagering Handle in New York Reaches Almost $1.8 Billion in January
In Yogi Berra's wise words, "It's deja vu all over again" as the New York State Gaming Commission rolls out the retail sports wagering numbers for January, setting new records while the Empire State keeps trucking in the charts.
January 2023 marks a significant milestone, with the handle coming less than a million dollars shy of $1.8 billion, overpowering the previous record of $1.69 billion set in January 2022 when mobile sportsbooks first made their debut in New York. The state now holds the top eight monthly handles in the post-PASPA era and ten of the top twelve. It's clear that New York's crowds just can't get enough of sports action!
Things have heated up in the revenue department, too, as the new record now stands at $149.9 million - that's a whopping $640,000 better than the previous record from November. Technically, it's a losing race as New York missed out on the $150 million plateau by less than $114,000 thanks to a couple of retail books going red for January. Del Lago Resort and Resorts World were the ones bearing the losses. Bummer!
The retail win rate for January came in under 4.6%, the lowest since June 2022's 0.4% hold, but hey, you can't win 'em all. The overall handle increased by 10.2% from December and 6.7% versus January 2022, while revenue was 4.8% higher versus December and a robust 21.1% higher against last January. The 8.3% hold rate saw an improvement of nearly one full percentage point from last year.
Tax receipts for January totaled $50,360 for retail, bumping the state's overall haul to $76.3 million - that's $563,000 more than November's record. Include operator license fees, and New York has generated over $770 million in tax revenue since permitting online wagering. Wowzers!
What's da Fudduck calling the shots?
It's no surprise that FanDuel continues to rule the roost as the top dog among mobile operators, hiking the state's benchmarks for handle and revenue. In January, the operator raked in $726.7 million in handles and $81.9 million in revenue, while also scoring a seven-month streak of double-digit holds at 11.3%. FanDuel took home more than half the mobile operator revenue for the fourth time in four months - now that's domination, ney-doodle!
DraftKings couldn't keep up but still held a distant second position with its $593.4 million in accepted bets - an all-time high. Although the win rate dropped nearly two percentage points to 6.7%, the January handle marked a major milestone as DraftKings crossed the $5 billion wagered in New York.
Caesars couldn't quite make it to the nine-figure club, but its $14.7 million in revenue in January wasn't too shabby. The handle, however, took a hit with a 4.5% decrease from the previous month and a 0.6-point dip in hold that knocked revenue revenue all the way down by 4.2%.
BetMGM, PointsBet, and BetRivers also managed to generate seven-figure revenue tallies for January, but they couldn't touch FanDuel or DraftKings in handles or revenue. WynnBET, on the other hand, continues to puzzle the state's sports betting enthusiasts with its 2.3% hold - the lowest among New York's nine mobile operators. However, it was still able to clear $10 million handle for the second time, pushing the total to over $100 million.
Mobile operator revenue remained within a relatively narrow range, staying between $141 million and $150 million in the last five months, with January's $149.4 million keeping things exciting.
Retail's rough month
The retail scene wasn't as bright as mobile, with retail handle clocking in slightly more than $10 million in January - a 39.2% year-over-year decline. However, the $460,000 in total revenue from the four commercial sportsbooks was still a substantial increase from the start of 2022, with a swing of $790,000 to the positive.
Rivers saw a nice boost in revenue almost five-fold from last year to $388,000, thanks to a 7.5-percentage-point higher win rate. Tioga Downs had the best hold of the bunch at 15.6%, wrangling $115,000 of the $740,000 wagered.
Resorts World paid out $33,600 above the $1.7 million it accepted in wagers, which was a major improvement compared to January 2022 when bettors walked away with $240,000 more in their pockets. Del Lago's loss was relatively minor, totalling $10,649 on $3.2 million handle - a better showing than last year when the losses reached $75,000.
Sound off about the latest sports betting numbers in New York! To be part of the action, aim for a handle of $1.8 billion and don't forget to favorite that 21.1% revenue growth! 💎🤑💰
Enrichment Data:- With the New York sports betting market thriving, mobile sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings have become unstoppable juggernauts.- In the last quarter, FanDuel dominated by raising the benchmarks for handle and revenue with record earnings.- Notably, FanDuel's handle accounted for about 40% of all accepted wagers, while its revenue accounted for over 50% of all mobile operator revenue in the Empire State.- However, the red-hot market has led to cut-throat competition, with many smaller operators struggling to stay afloat and some deciding to exit the New York market altogether.
Here are the sentences that contain the given words in a follow-up text about the sports-betting scene in New York:
- The line is now drawn, with FanDuel taking an exciting leap as it dominates over other mobile sports-betting operators, dominating the handle and revenue charts in the Empire State.
- In the retail sports-betting sector, financials weren't as promising, as the retail handle saw a steep decline year-over-year, while revenue numbers remained relatively stable compared to the start of 2022. The sports-betting market in New York continues to attract attention, fueled by the finances and the robust competition it presents.
