As per the latest report from the New York State Gaming Commission, state-licensed mobile sportsbooks have made a new weekly high for mobile sports betting. For the seven-day period ending on October 15, 2023, the state’s eight digital operators generated gross gaming proceeds of US$62 million. Hence, shattering the previous record of US$57.5 million from January.
In January 2022, the Empire State gave the go-ahead to mobile operators to offer and accept legal online wagers on sports. Its market allows for a total of nine privately owned brands to operate in it. However, at the moment one of the operators, Bally Bet, is not online, due to going offline a few months ago to incorporate new technology and revamp its offerings.
Record-Setting Week
For the week ending on October 15, 2023, the active operators produced a total wagering handle of US$402.7 million or 3.6% more than the previous week. It meant the fifth handle of more than US$400 million in the last six weeks as football season continues to be an important catalyst for digital sportsbooks in the Empire State.
As mentioned, the week saw the highest numbers of online sports betting revenue since the debut of the market in January 2022. Operators recorded approximately US$62 million in revenue, breaking the previous record of US$57.2 million from the week of January 22, 2023. This also meant a revenue jump of 100.6% from the US$30.9 million in the prior week.
During the record-setting week, FanDuel contributed to almost half of the revenue, as the online sportsbook disclosed proceeds of US$29.6 million. This is an all-time high for the company in the state. It was produced from a US$160 million handle and an 18.5% hold. DraftKings got a total betting volume of US$145.9 million and pre-tax revenue of US$23 million.
Meanwhile, the third spot was again occupied by Caesars Sportsbook, and the company reported a total wagering handle for the week of US$42.5 million and a win rate of 11.5%. BetMGM contributed to US$22.3 million of the weekly volume and got revenue of US$3.1 million, while BetRivers took in US$22.7 million in activity. It was the largest one in the state to date.
The Downside of Online Sports Betting
However, the increasing popularity of sports betting has an ugly side. According to recent reports, there has been a surge in New Yorkers who have opted to join voluntary self-exclusion programs since the introduction of the digital offering. The research found that there was a 33% increase in exclusion requests in the first 12 months of mobile sports wagering.
Jeffrey Wierzbicki, team leader of the Western Problem Gambling Resource Center in Buffalo is also backing the thesis that the launch of the market has led to more problem gambling. He explained that more people have sought help after the start and it was mostly young people. However, he said that there are not enough funds to properly battle the increasing addictions.
