Sports Betting Keeps Rolling in New York During May

The arrival of spring and summer typically results in a significant decrease in sports betting activity in the U.S. markets, with double-digit declines being common. However, the top sports betting sites in the country defied this trend in May, showing that sportsbooks can remain strong even during the summer months.

For the ninth consecutive month, New York sports betting apps exceeded $1 billion in May. Although it was their lowest monthly total since September, the May figures in New York would still be a record for any other state.

In May, the Empire State achieved significant revenue milestones, including gross gaming revenues and taxes collected by the state of New York, as reported by the New York State Gaming Commission. Following this success, New York now ranks among the top 12 highest producing sports betting months in the American market.

Getting into the numbers

In May, the legal sports betting industry in New York generated $1.36 billion in bets, showing a decrease of nearly $200 million from April’s $1.55 billion. However, this figure does reflect a significant year-over-year growth compared to the $1.27 billion reported in May 2022.

In May, the New York State Gaming Commission announced that the state generated $152.6 million in gross gaming revenues. This was attributed to an 11.2% hold, marking the third-highest hold in the state’s history and the highest since September.

The revenues from New York sportsbooks in May showed a significant increase from the $139.2 million generated in April, making it the second highest in history behind the record set in March with $163.6 million.

New York paid approximately $77.5 million in taxes to state and local coffers in May.

All-time mobile New York numbers are staggering

Online sports betting in New York has been active for only 17 months, yet the numbers it has generated have consistently exceeded expectations. Since the introduction of legal sports betting in New York in January 2022, there have been only two months where sportsbooks did not reach a monthly handle of $1 billion. The last time New York sportsbooks did not surpass $1 billion was in August 2022.

In just 17 months of operation, the mobile sports betting industry in New York has produced an impressive $24.1 billion in bets. Since January 2022, gross gaming revenues have exceeded $2 billion, and state tax revenue has surpassed $1 billion with the addition of numbers from May 2023.

New Jersey sports betting apps are the only ones to have surpassed $2 billion in all-time gross gaming revenues.

FanDuel still on top

Unsurprisingly, FanDuel continued to lead in the overall handle for the state, with DraftKings following closely behind. The two top New York sports betting apps collectively accounted for over 70% of the May handle, with FanDuel holding a 48% market share.

FanDuel led the way with $561 million in bets, followed by DraftKings with $471 million. Caesars, BetMGM, and BetRivers rounded out the top five with $162.9 million, $93.8 million, and $35.9 million in bets, respectively.

Thanks to the legal sports betting success in May, FanDuel became the first New York sports betting app to generate over $1 billion in gross revenue. As a result, the company has paid over $516 million in taxes to New York state and local governments.