Basketball’s Division I National Championship is well underway, and after recording a six-month low for bets taken in February, the New York betting industry will be eyeing an uplift from one of the biggest sporting events on the calendar.
February’s New York sports betting handle reached a not-inconsiderable $1.98 billion, but it ended a five-month run of total bets exceeding $2 billion at New York’s legal sportsbooks. That was the lowest handle recorded since August 2024. It was some way below the current record set in January of $2.48 billion.
There was still year-on-year growth of 11.2% for the month though. The end of the NFL regular season impacted operator performance, as it has in February during the years since sports betting was legalized in New York.
Though bettors in New York can’t legally wager on in-state college teams, the annual Division I men's basketball tournament will likely restore handle numbers to £2 billion-plus, as it did last year. In March 2024, handle hit $2,098,071,844 in New York.
New Yorkers may be unable to bet on St John’s to win, a shame perhaps given the team’s improvement in form under Rick Patino, although they were not necessarily at the top of the favorites to win the tournament this year.
The top two most tipped positions, and the favourites at the top college basketball betting apps, belonged to Duke in North Carolina and the University of Florida after Selection Sunday.
For the women’s tournament, Fairleigh Dickinson and Princeton will be playing for New Jersey state pride. Both were posted at enormous odds when betting for the women’s competition opened. South Carolina and Connecticut led the way as early favorites.
It’s also worth noting that New York betting customers are unable to make player prop wagers. That includes player prop bets for out-of-state teams. Anyone with a sportsbook account in the nearby states of New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Delaware can choose a player prop bet, but only for teams beyond their borders.
There are also a ton of betting promos and offers around though to aid you in getting in on the action for permitted wagers. That includes some juicy odds boosts, parlay promos, and prize competitions, or you can choose to apply a welcome bonus by joining a new sportsbook that you haven’t bet with previously.
Casting a gaze back at February’s handle figures in New York, FanDuel remained the market leader with DraftKings following. Fanatics had a good month, making its way into third spot for a podium finish. BetMGM sportsbook also continued its good form, coming in fourth.
The full breakdown of handle, revenue and hold for New York’s legal sportsbooks last month was as follows:
Sportsbook | Handle | Revenue | Hold |
FanDuel | $738.5 million | $92.5 million | 12.53% |
DraftKings | $717.4 million | $51.6 million | 7.19% |
Fanatics | $169.5 million | $11 million | 6.49% |
BetMGM | $130.2 million | $11.8 revenue | 9.06% |
Caesars | $128.6 million | $10 million | 7.78% |
ESPN Bet | $43.3 million | $3.8 million | 8.72% |
Bet Rivers | $42.1 million | $2.8 million | 6.67% |
Resorts World Bet | $7.9 million | $607,970 | 7.71% |
Bally Bet | $2.7 million | $484,391 | 6.73% |
With the excitement of the March Matchups reaching its finale in early April when the Championship Game takes place in San Antonio, Texas, it’ll be a few weeks yet until we see how big the betting has been in New York for this year’s edition.
