Digital Wager Wire highlights the most important events impacting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industry each week throughout the year.
Sportsbooks Report Super Bowl Success
Although the last quarter of 2024 in particular produced the most customer-friendly NFL outcomes since 1983, in which 75% of the favorites won in 10 individual weeks of the 18-week season, the Super Bowl was a different matter entirely.
Sportsbooks took a beating in the NFL this season. However, they recouped some of those losses with what has generally been described as a successful Super Bowl due to the underdog Eagles winning, the combined score of the game going under the posted total, and several stars like Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce failing to meet statistical expectations which ruined many props and same-game parlays.
Boston-based DraftKings reported that it handled over 12 million Super Bowl wagers across more than 2.5 million accounts with an average of 59,000 bets per minute shortly before kickoff. “We are happy how things played out Sunday night,” DraftKings’ Director of Sports Operations Johnny Avello said via email.
“Bettors were pretty split on the game outcome itself, but players like Saquon Barkley, Travis Kelce, and Kareem Hunt were all heavily bet and did not put up big numbers,” Avello added.
Although the precise numbers are still not in, the American Gaming Association projected a record $1.39 billion would be wagered on Super Bowl LIX through US-licensed sportsbooks.
Christian Cipollini, Senior Trading Manager at BetMGM, was quoted as saying, “Super Bowl LIX was the single biggest betting event in the history of BetMGM—it took the most bets and was one of the best single-game results in company history. Super Bowl bettors cashed in on the Eagles’ money line and Jalen Hurts Super Bowl MVP, but both defenses slowing down Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce netted a great result for us.”
New York Sets Sports Betting Record in January
New York is the undisputed king of US sports betting markets and will likely continue to be until Texas and/or California decide to get into the game. In January, it only added to its lofty reputation after the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) reported its highest handle on record of $2.48 billion, eclipsing by nearly 7% the $2.32 billion wagered in October 2024.
New York’s stunning January was 25.9% higher than January 2024, and it was the fifth consecutive month with a handle above $2 billion. A record handle on a nearly 10% hold led to record revenues as well. The state’s nine sportsbooks, including Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, Bally Bet, Resorts World Bet, ESPN BET, and BetRivers, combined to produce gross gaming revenue of $247.0 million in January.
FanDuel led the way, reporting a record-setting $965.1 million in wagers, the fourth consecutive month north of $900 million, on an 11.53% hold that generated a record $111.3 million in January.
DraftKings was next with an $837.9 million handle, which delivered revenue of $82.0 million on a 9.79% hold. The iconic Las Vegas-based Caesars posted a $163.2 million handle in January on a 9.68% hold that generated revenues of $15.8 million.
Fanatics produced a higher handle than Caesars with $194.1 million in bets, but its revenues were less, $15.1 million, due to a lower hold of 7.78%. BetMGM also reported a higher handle than Caesars and even Fanatics with $194.8 million in accepted wagers, but its 7.5% hold dragged revenues down to $14.8 million.
