New York Reaches $600M Weekly Handle for 1st Time

Empire State's nine online sportsbooks reach $600 million for the first time since mobile wagering launched in January 2022. 

Brad Senkiw - News Editorat Covers.com
Brad Senkiw • News Editor
Jan 10, 2025 • 10:13 ET • 4 min read
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Photo By - Imagn Images.

The Empire State kicked off the New Year by generating the largest sports betting weekly handle ever.

The New York Gaming Commission reported that $600.8 million was wagered during the week ending Jan. 5. 

The NFL’s final regular-season slate and several college football bowl games, including the playoff’s quarterfinals, in the period after Christmas and during New Year’s helped the nine online sportsbooks reach $600 million for the first time since mobile wagering launched in January 2022. 

Sports betting operators came close a month earlier when they generated a weekly handle of $592.9 million during Thanksgiving week, the previous all-time high. 

New York has set a new handle record three times since football season began. Sports betting operators have surpassed $500 million in five of the last six weeks for the first time.

Every sportsbook operator in New York except Resorts World Bet saw a week-over-week increase in wagering.  

Hold dips well below average

Bettors held their own during the week ending Jan. 5. Sportsbooks were only able to manage a 6.3% hold, three points below New York’s average win rate in 2024. 

That hold produced $38.1 million in revenue, a 38% decrease from the previous week when the New York sports betting operators earned $61.5 million.

The week ending Jan. 5 marked the 11th consecutive week with revenue surpassing $35 million. 

Big betting

FanDuel led all operators with a handle of $240.3 million, the second-highest this football season. However, revenue fell from $30.2 million in the previous week to $17.2 million in the week ending Jan. 5 behind a 7.2% hold. 

DraftKings generated $192 million in wagers, $26 million more than the previous week and the sportsbook’s highest handle in a month. A 6.6% hold led to $12.7 million in revenue. 

Revenue is hard to come by

Fanatics Sportsbook finished third with a handle of $51.3 million in the week ending Jan. 5. BetMGM wasn’t far behind with $48.8 million in wagers accepted, while Caesars reached $40.5 million. 

BetRivers generated $12.1 million in wagers to hold off ESPN BET, which took in $11.1 million. However, the PENN Entertainment platform earned just $8,674 in revenue, its lowest weekly profit since launching in the Empire State in late September. 

Bally Bet, which generated a $2.7 million handle, was the only operator in New York to see a week-over-week revenue increase.  

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Brad Senkiw - Covers
News Editor

Brad has been covering sports betting and iGaming industry news for Covers since 2023. He writes about a wide range of topics, including sportsbook insights, proposed legislation, regulator decision-making, state revenue reports, and online sports betting launches. Brad reported heavily on North Carolina’s legal push for and creation of online sportsbooks, appearing on numerous Tar Heel State radio and TV news shows for his insights.

Before joining Covers, Brad spent over 15 years as a reporter and editor, covering college sports for newspapers and websites while also hosting a radio show for seven years.

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