The New York sports betting market faced challenges in February, with the first significant decline since the start of the football season.
The absence of a full NFL game schedule and the $9.6 million loss recorded by BetMGM on the Super Bowl contributed to the lowest monthly revenue for the state’s nine sportsbooks since August 2023.
Bookmakers suffer losses
In February, the New York Gaming Commission reported revenue of $131.4 million. For the first time, revenue has fallen below US$150 million since the start of the American football season.
The movement of US$1.8 billion was the lowest since September 2023. So, this represents a drop of 37.9% compared to the previous month. However, compared to the previous year (2022) there was an increase of 21.7%.
The 7.4% withholding was the first win rate below 9% since November 2023, resulting in reduced tax revenue for the state, from $107.9 million in January to $67 million in February.
BetMGM, after recording a huge loss in the Super Bowl, made a gross profit of just $580,224. In other words, this is the first time that online sports betting has produced revenues of less than seven figures.
FanDuel led the state with $720.1 million in bets accepted, followed by DraftKings with $607.9 million.
Profit falls despite the increase in the number of bets
The beginning of March brought an increase in betting activity, with US$456.1 million in the week ending March 3.
PointsBet and Fanatics Sportsbook, which took over the PointsBet platform in New York, were not included in these numbers. Revenue rose to US$40.1 million, the highest amount in a month.
However, despite the increase in betting turnover, profits have fallen for some bookmakers. Thus, FanDuel had the best value in the state, with $184 million in bets, but revenue fell from $21 million to $14.8 million.
Additionally, DraftKings had the second highest value at $155.2 million, but revenue also decreased, going from $15.2 million to $10.2 million.
Therefore, the sports betting market in New York continues to be a competitive landscape, with challenges and opportunities for bookmakers.
Therefore, the movement in March and the impact of the March Madness games must be closely monitored to assess the short and medium term scenario.
