The Empire State got back to a $500 million online sports betting handle for the first time since football season ended Feb. 9, but bettors had the better of operators during the week ending Mar. 2. The New York Gaming Commission recently reported $549.9 million in wagers, a 28.4% week-over-week increase. However, a 4.8% hold led to just $26.4 million in revenue for mobile sportsbooks.
Weekly profits dipped 44.6% from the previous period and ended a run of 18 consecutive weeks with revenue of at least $30 million. It was the operators’ lowest weekly output since making $10.4 million during the week ending Oct. 20.
With the NFL season and NBA All-Star break over, bettors turned their attention to pro and college basketball, which enters a key month for betting action. Hold fell to single digits for the second time in the last three weeks. All nine online sportsbooks saw their week-over-week revenue decrease.
DraftKings gets hammered
DraftKings had one of its worst weeks on record in the New York sports betting market. The online sportsbook led all operators during the week ending Mar. 2 with a $229.5 million handle, its largest since May 2024, but bettors won back over $226 million of the amount wagered.
Off an incredibly low 1.2% hold, the $2.7 million in revenue was the worst for DraftKings since producing $1.5 million during the week ending Oct. 20. It marked the first time DK had a handle over $200 million combined with income under $7 million.
FanDuel, however, nearly produced a double-digit win rate. The online operator generated $177.6 million in wagers and $17.2 million in profit for the week. It marked the fifth consecutive week FD hauled in over $15 million in profit. The sportsbook’s handle also rose by $11 million week-over-week and was also the largest since Super Bowl LIX.
Other struggles
Several online operators saw their weekly revenue cut in half compared to the previous period. Fanatics Sportsbook, generating the third-most wagers for the week ending Mar. 2 at $48.2 million, was one of them. Revenue fell from $2.8 million the previous week to $1.4 million in the latest period.
Caesars overtook BetMGM with a $34.7 million weekly handle, but BetMGM’s $2.5 million in income from a $33.6 million handle was more than $1 million in profit ahead of Caesars.
ESPN BET saw a nice $2 million week-over-week handle rise to $10.6 million, but the online book won back just 4.6% of all wagers. BetRivers generated an even higher handle at $11.4 million. However, it produced revenue of $486,886, slightly less than ESPN BET.
