New York Celebrates Another Record-Setting Month in November

The end of 2023 is turning out to be record setting for the New York legal sports betting industry.

The Empire State gave the bustling U.S. legal sports betting scene its first $2 billion monthly handle in October. As an encore, New York sports betting apps improved on that record-setting handle in November. 

No other state has come even close to the $2 billion plateau. New York has now done it two months in a row. The state also now owns the top-15 handles ever recorded for a single state over a one-month period since the 2018 Supreme Court decision to overturn its blanket ban on sports betting nationally.

It was FanDuel New York and DraftKings New York that once again battled it out for the distinction of being New York's best sports betting site. It was a split decision over each of the two main metrics.

New York sets a new high in handle

The New York State Gaming Commission identified $2,109,294,400 spent with the state’s mobile sports wagering providers in November. It is just over a 100 million jump from the $2.006 billion record set in October. The record before that came in September when $1.77 billion was spent on New York sports betting, thanks to many people taking advantage of the top New York sportsbook promos.

The $2,109,294,400 is also just over an impressive $545 million year-over-year improvement from the $1,564,144,672 from November 2022.

Revenues not reaching record levels

While sports betting activity has been off the charts since the start of the current NFL season, revenues haven't exactly followed the record handles at the best sports betting apps.

New York gross gaming revenue totaled $150,903,281 in November. It is a respectable number but about $16 million less than the record $166.3 million in revenues from October. It is also behind the $165.6 million in GGR from September, the record prior to October’s haul.

Year-over-year, gross gaming revenues showed a slight increase. $150,903,281 last month was better than $149,244,901 from November 2022. Remember, November 2023 had more than half a billion more in overall wagering activity than November 2022.

$76.9 million in sports betting tax revenue was paid by New York’s best sportsbooks in November to needy state and local coffers.

FanDuel tops handle, DraftKings wins revenues

The New York State Gaming Commission reports weekly on the successes of their legal sports betting apps which include Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel, BetMGM, WynnBET, PointsBet, Bally Bet, Resorts World Bet, and BetRivers.

FanDuel and DraftKings continued their battle for New York sports betting supremacy last week with each taking home a victory for the week that ended Dec. 3. 

FanDuel was tops in terms of weekly handle with $194,664,678, but finished second in terms of revenues with $12.2 million. DraftKings finished second in handle last week with $193,588,844, but was tops with $13.5 million gross gaming revenue.

Caesars Sportsbook was third with $45,765,735 in bets for the week, BetMGM was fourth with $25,076,947 and BetRivers was the only other New York sportsbook over the $6 million mark. It took in $15,938,847 for the week.

Since the Jan. 8, 2022 launch of legal sports betting in the Empire State, FanDuel has been by far the most-successful among the top New York sports betting sites. It has a lifetime handle in the state of $13,584,170,041. DraftKings in next with $10,653,547,092, Caesars is third with $4,753,883,159, BetMGM fourth with $2,468,456,006, and BetRivers is fifth with a $983,733,761 New York handle from it launch date.