New York state sports betting revenue dropped below the $100 million mark for the first time in a year after a disappointing August performance.

Early indications from weekly revenue reports suggest that the lackluster August performance will be comfortably reversed in September, given the launch of the new NFL season.

August saw New York mobile sports betting handle rise above $1 billion again, reaching $1.1 billion, up 15.4% from the $962.1 million recorded in July. It was also a marked increased (27.3%) year-over-year from August 2022’s $872.2 million handle.

Gross Gaming Revenue, however, was the lowest since July 2022. Hold percentage recorded by operators was 8.8% across the board, giving revenue of $98.5 million. This was down from 10.9% in July. For the year-to-date from April (including August) the hold rate has been 9.7%. Poor sporting results from an operator perspective helped contribute to a lower overall margin and the subsequent drop in revenue.

Handle by operator conformed to the general trend in New York, with DraftKings leading the charge in handle but achieving a lower margin than main rival FanDuel. The breakdown, per operator in the Big Apple was as follows:

  • DraftKings: $446.9 million (40.2%)
  • FanDuel: $409.1 million (36.8%)
  • Caesars: $120.1 million (10.8%)
  • BetMGM: $70.5 million (6.3%)
  • RSI: $36.3 million (3.3%)
  • PointsBet: $17.1 million (1.5%)
  • WynnBet: $8.5 million (0.8%)
  • Resorts World Bet: $4.2 million (0.4%)

The revenue figures were different, however with the following results (hold in brackets):

  • FanDuel: $42.0 million (10.3%)
  • DraftKings: $35.5 million (8.7%)
  • Caesars: $9.6 million (8.0%)
  • BetMGM: $6.5 million (9.2%)
  • RSI: $3.0 million (8.3%)
  • PointsBet: $914,020 (5.3%)
  • WynnBet: $752,704 (9.4%)
  • Resorts World Bet: $322,945 (7.1%)

With Penn knocking on the door with the soon-to-launch ESPN Bet, it’ll be interesting to see if it receives a New York license and whether or not it can permeate the effective duopoly in sports betting that FanDuel and DraftKings hold. Owing to the 51% tax rate on GGR, New York state still received $50.2 million in contributions to the state, making total contributions $305.1 million since the start of Fiscal Year 2023/2024.