The first two rounds of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments helped generate 3% more legal online New York sports betting action in 2025 than in 2024.
The New York Gaming Commission reported a $555.3 million handle during the week ending March 23. The same week in 2024 led to $539.6 million in wagers. The Empire State’s nine mobile sportsbooks hauled in $44.8 million in weekly gross revenue, up 43.6% from the previous year.
An 8.1% hold during that week was more than two points higher than the win rate produced during the first week of 2024’s March Madness.
The opening rounds produced a less than 1% week-over-week increase in handle but put New York action over $500 million for the fourth consecutive week and the 12th time in the last 14 weeks.
Gross revenue was down 17.8% from the previous week, but operator profits stayed above $40 million for the third consecutive seven-day period.
FanDuel back on top
FanDuel ended a five-week leading handle streak by DraftKings in New York with $207.1 million in wagers for the opening rounds of March Madness. It’s the first weekly $200 million handle for FanDuel since the Super Bowl week.
However, DraftKings turned a higher profit, producing $17.7 million in gross revenue on a $189 million handle to FanDuel’s $15.7 million in profit.
DraftKings’ revenue fell 27% week-over-week while FanDuel’s haul dropped 18%. Still, both operators saw year-over-year improvements during the first week of the NCAA tournament.
Handle increases
Five of New York’s remaining sportsbooks generated more money bet during the week ending March 23 than in the previous period.
Fanatics Sportsbook was among that group, with a $1 million handle increase to $49.2 million, which was the third-highest of the week. BetMGM followed with $40.7 million accepted, up over $5 million from the previous week, while Caesars saw a $2 million increase to $38.8 million.
Fanatics was the only operator to enjoy higher profits with a nearly $1 million week-over-week increase to $3.9 million.
ESPN BET finished the week ending March 23 in fifth with a handle of $14.1 million, while BetRivers generated $11.3 million. ESPN BET also produced a 12.3% hold that led to $1.7 million in revenue, its highest since launching in New York in Sept. 2024.
