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New York sports betting revenue surged in July after a quiet summer as interest in the MLB and NFL pre-season drove up wagers placed. And users of one sportsbook did particularly well out of it for a short while.
In the first month of the second half of 2025, New Yorkers wagered $1.4 billion, a rise of over 11% year on year. An 11% hold rate resulted in revenue of $156 million for the eight legal sportsbooks in NY state.
Betting interest during July revolved around the MLB All-Star game in the middle of the month, when the National League team edged out their American League opponents 7-6. In a Q2 earnings call, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins pointed to a 10% increase in MLB betting action this year compared to last.
For the second month in a row, DraftKings took more bets than FanDuel to stay as New York’s biggest betting operator for wagers accepted. The former achieved a handle of $509 million in July compared to its rival’s $477 million.
DraftKings' final revenue figure of $52.5 million for the seventh month of the year was below FanDuel’s $61.4 million though. FanDuel’s impressive record for market-leading hold rates continued at 12.9% ahead of DraftKings’ 10.3%. FanDuel has enjoyed a higher hold rate than DraftKings in every month of the last year.
Regardless, DraftKings is on a high right now across the US. In that earnings call, the group stated its revenue was up 37% year over year, off a 6% increase in handle. DraftKings also revealed its live betting activity had risen by 16%.
While Fanatics held on to third place in the New York handle standings in July, it did so on the back of a loss in the week commencing July 28.
In a rare red week, Fanatics lost $3.8 million from total bets taken of $46.7 million. That was the week of the NFL Hall of Fame game when the LA Chargers, as favorites, trounced the Detroit Lions.
Fanatics’ figure was the third-highest loss-making week for a sportsbook in New York betting history. It was also the worst seven days for Fanatics in terms of losses since it launched in the Empire State in March 2024.
Its previous highest negative revenue number had been $1.4 million in October last year. It still compares favorably to the most expensive week ever in NY for a betting provider when BetMGM lost $9.6 million in the week of the 2024 Super Bowl.
Despite the blip, Fanatics did complete the month in the black with revenue of $13.9 million and handle of $137.7 million to remain the third biggest sportsbook in New York.
Of the other eight, BetMGM stayed in fourth place with July revenue of $10 million from a handle of $98.1 million. Next up was Caesars with $97.9 and $9.7 million followed by ESPN Bet at $37.1 million and $3.9 million in income.
Completing the pack, BetRivers achieved a handle of $35 million and revenue of $3.3 million. BallyBet brought up the rear once more, taking in $9.2 million in wagers and holding $865,000.
July’s revenue boost across all of the sports betting providers in New York will be a welcome one for all as the nation holds its breath and on to its betting dollars ahead of the regular NFL season getting underway in early September.
With the top NFL sportsbooks preparing to meet strong demand, this fall could see more betting records tumble in the nation’s biggest betting state, which gets bigger every year.
