If New York’s nine legal online sports betting operators thought October’s best-ever figures would be the year’s highlight, November’s returns soared higher still.
Every sportsbook in New York hit weekly handle figures in November among their very best. A tantalizing array of sporting events tempted dollars from customer’s wallets and there’s plenty more to come.
Now that the bean counters at the New York State Gaming Commission have concluded their totting up for November, the sheer size of the dollars involved reveals just how much the sports industry is still booming in NY.
The combined handle for October 2023 had been the highest recorded since online sports betting was legalized in January 2022, but November surpassed even that with total bets topping $2 billion for the second consecutive month.
New York’s online sportsbooks weren’t quite as sharp in holding on to customers’ dollars though as Gross Gaming Revenue dipped slightly on the previous month.
That resulted in a total hold of 7.15%, down significantly on the year’s best of nearly 11% in July.
The headline figures for November 2023 then, were:
Total handle: $2,109,294,400, up 4.9% on October
Gross Gaming Revenue: $150,903,281, down 10% on October
FanDuel had concluded October with a 44.4% market share and that only dropped a little to 43.8%. With DraftKings accounting for 31% last month, the two giants continue to be an unstoppable force.
The pair take almost 75 cents for every dollar wagered in New York.
Among the others, Caesars stood at 10% market share, and BetMGM New York was at around 6%.
BallyBet made their return to the fold in November with $4.3 million in handle as their new Kambi-powered platform launched.
Between them, WynnBet, Bet Rivers and Pointsbet their joint market share accounts for the remaining 8% or so of activity.
Though November’s sporting high spots have the buzz of Thanksgiving and Turkey Day football, it isn’t always the biggest month for sports betting.
January, March and December each saw more betting action in New York last year.
There were some standout betting events in November 2023 though that, in part, explain the record-breaking activity. The New York Jets played out the first ever Black Friday televised NFL game, a holiday highlight surrounded by a sizable portion of classic college football matchups.
Thanksgiving week saw a spike in wagers placed that hit almost $517 million, with the best NFL sportsbooks taking a sizable piece of the action.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix also slotted into the November schedule for its first running. The glamor race proved to be immensely popular among fans of autosports wagering on the outcome.
BetMGM reported that it took three times the number of bets for the LA Strip race than any previous F1 event, making the event a good source of revenue for the top motorsports betting sites in NY.
Elsewhere in the US, the highly hyped launch of ESPN Bet in November stoked additional interest in sports betting. The ESPN Bet app led the download charts upon its release while DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and BetMGM also enjoyed healthy November numbers on the Google Play and Apple App stores.
With thoughts firmly fixed on the busy Christmas and New Year season it’s worth noting that December and January last year set records to date for New Yorkers placing bets.
It’s likely we will see yet more highs hit by the state’s online betting giants. Happy holidays then for the sportsbooks!
