New York Hits More Sports Wagering Revenue Milestones In May

The New York State Gaming Commission reported $152.6 million in sports wagering revenue for May, lifting the Empire State to a pair of milestones as mobile betting there remains unmatched.

The revenue total was the second-highest in state history, behind the $163.6 million generated in March, and third-highest nationally in the post-PASPA era. It was enough to push all-time gross revenue above $2 billion, a status shared only by neighboring New Jersey.

Thanks to New York’s 51% tax rate on mobile revenue, which was all but $675,037 of May’s overall amount, the state became the first post-PASPA to clear $1 billion in tax receipts. Doing so in 17 months of mobile wagering — the state had generated just $4.2 million in tax revenue from its four commercial sportsbooks after launching in July 2019 before adding the mobile component in January 2022 — is a rather remarkable feat.

Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo asserted, to much derision in January 2021, that mobile sports wagering could provide up to $500 million annually for the state’s education fund. New York’s nine operators are currently on pace to produce $870 million in tax receipts for the calendar year and have generated more than $148 million for fiscal year 2024, which started in April.

Operators routed the public in May, keeping 11.2% of the $1.36 billion wagered. The handle also gave New York a clean sweep of the top 12 monthly all-time spots nationally post-PASPA.

The 11.2% hold is the third-highest in the mobile era and first in double digits since reaching 11.4% last September. The mobile books paid $77.5 million in taxes for May, while the overall total is more than $363 million for the calendar year.

FanDuel a notable contributor to tax bill

May #SportsBetting numbers 🧵for #NewYork via @NYSGamingComm. All-time thru 5/23

Handle: $24,630,827,525
Revenue: $2,122,734,943
Win Rate: 8.62%
Taxes: $1,061,180,172

15/15 #GamblingTwitter

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) June 9, 2023

FanDuel made history of its own last week by becoming the first mobile operator to reach $1 billion in gross revenue in New York. The online titan added another $5.1 million in the last three days of May to finish less than $3,000 shy of $76 million, and it posted an all-time high win rate of 13.5% on $561.4 million handle.

The final three days’ revenue was also enough to enable FanDuel to account for more than half the Empire State’s mobile revenue for the second straight month and third time this year. It has paid more than $516 million in taxes in New York, a figure over $100 million higher than any state has generated post-PASPA.

The only other mobile operator to have a double-digit hold in May was DraftKings, which kept $47.7 million from $471.1 million handle for a 10.1% mark. A well-defined yet distant second to FanDuel in every major category in New York, DraftKings surpassed $7 billion in all-time handle with May’s numbers and cleared $40 million in revenue for the seventh time in nine months.

BetRivers had a notable bounce-back as its revenue increased more than four-fold from April to $3.2 million and narrowly missed a 9% hold from $35.9 million in accepted wagers. Its win rate was seven percentage points higher compared to the previous month, when it barely cleared $800,000 from over $49 million handle.

Caesars Sports crossed the $1 billion handle threshold for the calendar year with nearly $162.9 million in May, and it posted an 8.5% win rate in keeping just over $13.9 million in revenue. BetMGM‘s $93.8 million handle was its lightest since totaling close to $73 million last August, but its month-over-month revenue surged 24.7% to nearly $8.9 million, as its 9.4% hold was nearly four full percentage points higher compared to April.

PointsBet, whose U.S.-based sports betting unit is in line to be acquired by Fanatics Sportsbook, was the sixth and final operator to reach seven figures in revenue for May, clearing $1.2 million while notching a 6.4% hold from $19.1 million handle. The Aussie-based book, which will sell its U.S.-based assets to Fanatics for $150 million, had its first sub-$20 million handle since last July.

Year-over-year numbers trending upward

Running 2023 YTD Top 10 #SportsBetting handle by state (May in CAPS):

1 NEW YORK $7.98B <-NEW
2 New Jersey $3.8B
3 Nevada $3.02B
4 Illinois $3.018B (thru March)
5 Ohio $3.015B
6 Pennsylvania $2.7B
7 Colorado $1.88B
8 Virginia $1.88B
9 Michigan $1.6B
10 Indiana $1.54B

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) June 9, 2023

New York’s handle, which will cross $8 billion for the year with its next weekly report, has increased nearly 6% compared to the first five months of 2022. Gross revenue, however, is up 33.2% to $713.8 million thanks in part to a hold hovering just under 9%. That is 1.8 percentage points higher than the same period last year and has contributed to tax revenue running $90 million ahead of 2022’s pace for the first five months.

For May, handle increased 7.4% year-over-year, while revenue spiked 38.2% compared to 2022, as the 11.2% hold was up nearly 2.5 percentage points. Handle was down 7.4% versus April, but revenue ticked 9.6% higher.

On the retail side, Tioga Downs avoided a fourth consecutive losing month, as it claimed $14,358 from nearly $470,000 wagered for a hold under 3.1%. A rough March in which bettors came out more than $151,000 ahead still has Tioga Downs down $75,104 in 2023. The state’s four brick-and-mortar books had a hold of 13% on $5.2 million handle.