October was a record-breaking month for online sports betting in New York. A record $2.32 billion was wagered during the month. That’s not just a record for the state but the highest monthly total in the US.
There are monthly figures released by the New York Gaming Commission and the amount wagered in October was 14.9% higher than October 2023. That was a special month for the state with the $2 billion mark being reached for the first time. It was a big improvement in September of this year too with a 15.4% increase.
New Milestones in Sports Betting Handle
The total of $2.32 billion beat the record that was set in November last year. That month saw $2.12 billion wagered and this new record is 9.4% higher than that.
Revenue Figures: A Mixed Bag
Although the amount wagered was a record, that didn’t mean the monthly revenue figure was also going to be on the increase. It was $176.3 million which was 5.7% higher than last year’s October figure but 14.5% lower than the revenue earned in September 2024. The overall hold in October was 7.6% which was down from the 9.9% recorded in the previous month.
Impact of Customer-Friendly Outcomes
One reason for this is there is what is described by DraftKings as “customer-friendly sports outcomes” in the early part of the fourth quarter. This has led them to revise their 2024 fiscal year revenue figure to $4.85 billion to $4.95 billion, down from $5.05 billion to $5.25 billion.
The record monthly revenue figure is $211.7 million. That figure was achieved in the first month of this year and October’s total is 16.7% below that.
Top Performers in New York Mobile Sports Betting
It’s FanDuel who are enjoying the best revenue results in New York. October saw them earn a figure of $77.3 million from the $907.6 million taken in bets. That’s an 8.52% hold. In second place were DraftKings on $58.9 million from the $813.7 million in wagers, a 7.24% hold..
There was a big gap to Fanatics who were third with a revenue total of $12.4 million from the $178.4 million worth of wagers taken in October. That was their strongest result since the online betting site launched in New York, reports NY.bet.
Caesars and BetMGM Performance
BetMGM took wagers of $161.3 million in October, compared to $155.1 million for Caesars. However, Caesars had revenue of $10.9 million (a 5.89% hold) which was higher than the $9.5 million recorded by BetMGM. The gross gaming revenue for Rush Street Interactive was $3.5 million, a 7.64% hold from the $45.8 million wagers taken.
ESPN Bet’s First Full Month
October was the first full month in New York for ESPN Bet. The sportsbook had been launched by Penn Entertainment and that was something they considered to be a key milestone for their business.
The month saw a total of $40.8 million wagered with the new online sportsbook with a gross gaming revenue of $3.2 million, a 7.84% hold. That saw them ahead of established New York online sportsbooks such as Bally Bet who didn’t enjoy a great October. Their handle was $11.1 million and that produced revenue of only $304,513 which was a 2.75% hold.
Legalizing Online Sports Betting in New York
It was 2018 when a US Supreme Court Judge ruling led to individual states being able to decide if they wanted to legalize online gambling. It took New York until 2022 for them to go down the legalization route. As soon as betting apps were introduced there were huge revenue figures recorded.
Fiscal Year Performance
The current fiscal year for New York runs from April 2024 to March 2025. The total wagering handle was at $12.5 billion until the end of October. The record figure in October took total revenue for 2024/25 through the $1 billion mark, reaching $1.17 billion.
Last year’s handle was $19.6 billion and with a busy November and December, the Super Bowl, and March madness to come, that figure looks likely to be beaten. The Super Bowl in particular is an event that annually sees massive amounts wagered as the NFL season reaches its climax.
A Bright Future for New York Sports Betting
It took New York a while to finally join the growing list of US states that have legalized sports betting. Since they did, the state hasn’t looked back and the future looks rosy indeed. Not just for the gambling companies in the state but for the state’s coffers that have received over $2 billion from gambling tax revenue due to the 51% tax rate.
