Week 1 in the NFL brought the kind of handle New York’s eight online sports betting operators were looking for, but the revenue didn’t follow like last year.
The New York Gaming Commission reported $476.3 million was wagered during the week ending Sept. 8, up 14.5% from the same week in 2023.
However, revenue of $32.3 million for the first week with college football and NFL together was down 43% year-over-year as bettors presented a challenge. The 6.8% hold paled compared to the 13.6% win rate from 2023 Week 1 of the NFL. It also marked the third consecutive week with a hold below double digits in New York.
The NFL’s opening week presented a mixed bag of favorites and underdogs covering, and the Empire State’s latest numbers don’t include Monday night’s contest between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers.
The busiest sports betting week in months did produce a handle 18.7% higher than the previous period and gave Empire State operators the first back-to-back weeks with $400 million wagered since mid-May.
Revenue was up 6.2% from the previous week and more than $30 million for the third time in four weeks.
Dynamic duo
The battle for the best handle during the week ending Sept. 8 was decided by less than $500,000. FanDuel generated $181.59 million in wagers for the week while DraftKings came in second with a handle of $181.13 million.
However, FanDuel’s win rate of 8.2%, higher than DraftKings’ 5.5%, led to a New York-best $14.96 million in revenue, up from the previous week’s $13.5 million but about half of what the online operator brought in during last year’s first week of NFL.
DraftKings hauled in $9.98 million in revenue, it’s third consecutive week of fewer than $10 million.
The two market leaders in New York combined to account for 76% of all dollars wagered during the week.
Back in third
Caesars pulled back in front of BetMGM for the week ending Sept. 8 with the third-best handle of $35 million. Behind a solid 8.2% hold, however, BetMGM hauled in a better profit of $2.8 million on a $34-million handle.
Fanatics came in fifth with a respectable $28 million handle, up $3 million from the previous week, but revenue of $1.7 million slipped 22.7% week-over-week.
BetRivers and Bally Bet followed the same theme of producing more dollars wagered and less revenue, while Resorts World was the only New York sports betting operator to suffer a loss in the busy sports week.
