New York mobile sports betting revenue exceeds $200M in May for first time in over a year

New York's mobile sports betting market saw gross gaming revenue (GGR) exceed $200 million for the first time in over a year in May. According to the New York State Gaming Commission, the total GGR for May reached $203.3 million, marking the second instance of GGR surpassing $200 million since January 2024, which had a record of $211.5 million. This represents a 33.8% increase compared to May 2023.

The betting handle for May was $1.97 billion, a 45.9% increase from the previous year and the highest since the record of November 2023. Net revenue to platform providers was $99.6 million, the second-highest figure since New York's legal sports betting market began in January 2022.

FanDuel led the market in May with a GGR of $88 million from a handle of $747.5 million. DraftKings, despite having a higher handle of $812.3 million, recorded a slightly lower GGR of $84.2 million.

Caesars Sportsbook was the only other operator to exceed $10 million in GGR, posting $11.1 million from a $160.0 million handle. Other operators included BetMGM with $8.1 million in GGR from a $117.3 million handle and Fanatics with $7.0 million in GGR from a $71.7 million handle.

Since the legalization of online sports betting in January 2022, New York has seen rapid growth, outpacing more established markets like New Jersey and Indiana in both revenue and handle. This growth has made New York the largest contributor to sports betting tax revenue in the United States.

According to a report by the United States Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of State and Local Tax Revenue (QTAX), New York accounts for over 37% of the total sports betting tax revenue in the US. In Q3 2023, New York contributed $188.5 million out of the national total of nearly $506.0 million.

The performance in May was boosted by the participation of the New York Knicks and Rangers in the NBA and NHL playoffs, respectively. The New York Yankees' performance in MLB also likely contributed to the strong betting activity.

Comparatively, handle in May 2022 was $1.2 billion, with revenue nearly half of what was achieved in May 2024, highlighting the market's maturation over the past two years.