The lack of March Madness upsets caught up with New York sports betting operators in the second weekend of the men’s NCAA tournament.
With four No. 1 seeds making the Final Four for the second time ever and favorites cashing, especially in parlays, the Empire State posted one of its lowest weekly gross revenue figures in the last few years.
Key takeaways
- Lack of upsets during the second week of the NCAA tournament led to $8.4 million in sports betting revenue, the fifth week ever under $10 million.
- The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight helped generate the fifth consecutive weekly handle of over $500 million.
- FanDuel accounted for over 50% of the nine online sportsbooks’ weekly profits.
The New York Gaming Commission reported the nine online operators made just $8.4 million from a $522.4 million handle during the week ending Mar. 30.
Bettors taking full advantage of one of the chalkiest NCAA tournaments ever led to a 1.6% hold, the second-lowest sportsbooks ever endured in New York. FanDuel’s $4.3 million in revenue accounted for 51.2% of entire weekly revenue for New York sports betting.
Profits fell below $10 million for the first time since 2024's Super Bowl week, when BetMGM’s $9.6 million loss led to a $5.1 million combined net-positive seven days. It’s just the fifth time since online wagering launched in January 2022 operators didn’t reach eight digits in income during a week.
Hefty drop
The second stretch of March Madness games did spur the Empire State's fifth consecutive $500 million handle week, but bettors wagered $522.4 million during the week that included the men’s NCAA tournament Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, a 6% decrease from the first and second round of New York sports wagering.
Revenue fell 82% from the $41.9 million bettors generated the previous week and hold slipped six-and-a-half points.
The same week last year generated 14.5% fewer wagers than March Madness' second week this year, but operators claimed $41.9 million in 2024.
Operator struggles
No New York sportsbook saw a week-over-week revenue increase, and two operators (BetRivers and Resorts World Bet) suffered losses.
FanDuel led all books during the week of March 30 with a $197.8 million handle. DraftKings was second with $177.8 million wagered but reported a $1.2 million handle, its first under $2 million since mid-October.
BetMGM, which recorded the third-highest handle at $43.7 million, fell short of $1 million in income for the first time since July. Fanatics Sportsbook generated $40.9 million in wagers but ended 13 consecutive weeks with seven-figure profits.
Despite bringing in $5 million less than Fanatics, Caesars was only the third operator to surpass $1 million in profit. ESPN BET made just $43,278 off a $10.4 million handle.
