Over $19 billion was wagered in New York last year, representing a nearly 20% increase over 2022 while revenue also spiked to over $1.7 billion.
Big Betting in the Big Apple
New York’s regulated sports betting market is the largest in the nation and last year it got even bigger. The recently released numbers show New Yorkers bet $19.64 billion and the sportsbooks profited $1.76 billion, representing a 19.8% and 20.6% year-over-year increase, respectively.
Although New York was far and away the industry’s largest market in the nation, the increasing number of states that now offer sports betting led to a massive uptick in betting nationwide. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA) the total handle, or wagers accepted, in the U.S.A. in 2023 was a record $119.8 billion in handle, a stunning 27.8% increase over 2022.
The national revenue generated by sportsbooks in 2023 increased a startling 44.5% to $10.9 billion of which New York represented approximately 16% of that total. “From the traditional casino experience to online options, American adults’ demand for gaming is at an all-time high,” said Bill Miller, the Association’s President, and CEO.
Industry pundits had conflicting opinions on how 2023 would fare but at the time “inflation was high, uncertainty was in the air. Forecasters couldn’t agree what these challenges might do to discretionary income,” Miller said.
Jane Bokunewicz, Director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at New Jersey’s Stockton University, which studies the gambling industry, opined that sports betting is still in its infancy and it is easy to understand why the industry has become so appealing. “As a form of entertainment, legal sports betting might be a new and novel experience for many patrons, and with its relatively low cost of entry, may be attractive to them even if their discretionary spending budget is limited,” she said.
Fanduel Is the King of New York
The duopoly of FanDuel and DraftKings reigned supreme in New York last year but the true leader was FanDuel. Flutter Entertainment’s industry-leading entry generated $8.10 billion in mobile sports bets in FY23, which produced $845.8 million in revenue.
DraftKings was the second-most popular online sportsbook in New York last year with a yearly handle of $7.02 billion, which delivered $619.6 million in revenue. Caesars made the podium with a $2.03 billion handle and revenues in New York last year of $140.4 million.
BetMGM was the fourth and final online sportsbook to break the $1 billion handle threshold and generated $86.1 million in revenue. Rush Street Interactive reported $37.8 million in revenue, while Fanatics did an admirable job with $23.5 million in revenue after replacing PointsBet in the market.
More states will join the sports betting gravy train this year and it would seem logical that the record-setting numbers in 2023 will be broken in 2024. However, some states have more hurdles to climb than others and sports betting may not come to those areas for years, if ever.
“There’s a lot fewer states left on the board [for legalization],” said Chris Cylke, AGA senior vice president of government relations. “Some of them have pretty significant political challenges in terms of getting sports betting itself enacted.”
