A maiden opportunity to wager on the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament saw New York’s online sports betting space fall a fraction shy of its own monthly record.
The region’s online sportsbooks accepted $1.64bn in wagers in March, according to official data released by the New York State Gaming Commission.
That is up 7.2 per cent from the $1.53bn wagered in February at New York’s online sportsbooks, although that is short of the $1.67bn US record that they accepted in January.
The digital ecosystem averaged $52.8m in bets per day, which was down slightly from the $54.6m in bets per day over the 28 days of February.
Sportsbooks won $114.3m in gross revenue from March’s bets, up 38.7 per cent from $82.4m in gross gaming revenue in February. Operators netted $56m in revenue and injected $58.3m into state coffers.
New York’s online sportsbooks have now generated $151.7m in tax revenue for the state, which is almost $30m more than Pennsylvania’s $122.5m in state and local taxes that the state’s sportsbooks generated in all of 2021, which was then a US best.
Through the market’s first three months, online sportsbooks have produced $320.8m in gross revenue on $4.8bn in wagers. Only New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, and Pennsylvania generated more in sports bets, both online and retail, in all of 2021.
“A seasonal slowdown will hit sportsbooks over the next few months, but it is hard to imagine a stronger launch,” said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA network.
“The NBA playoffs, baseball, and major golf tournaments will keep bettors interested, but we’ll have to wait until football season for similarly eye-popping numbers. Regardless, the state has clearly been the biggest winner so far.”
FanDuel continued to hold the online market lead with $673.1m in bets, which was up from $568.1m in February. Those bets led to a record in gross revenue with $58.3m, more than doubling the $23.2m that the operator won in February.
DraftKings was second with $414.5m in wagers, up from $387.6m in February, producing a $22.9m win, down from $30m in January.
Caesars continued to slow with $273.4m in wagers, down from $323.4m in February. Gross revenue rose to $21.6m from $19.8m month-on-month.
“FanDuel’s start has been remarkable, producing more revenue in March than most states’ entire sports betting industries will,” Ramsey added.
“In just three months, FanDuel has solidified its position as the market leader and it will be a significant challenge for its rivals to eat into that early lead.”
