Mobile sports betting witnessed a slight dip for February, especially after the Super Bowl. The schedule at this time of year does not feature any NFL games and a limited slate of NBA and NHL games due to their respective All-Star Weekends and games.
February Sports Betting Handle
Through five weeks of sports betting for the Empire State, there is no doubt that the state leads the sports betting industry, passing neighboring state New Jersey. Through the seven sportsbooks that operate in the state, operators have brought in $2.4 billion in bets.
Sports betting across the nation certainly took a hit in total handle numbers for the week ending February 20. Major sports may have been on a small break for the most part; however, bettors across the state found other sports to place wagers on.
The handle decreased approximately $120 million from the week before. However, this was expected as the sports schedule did not favor the sportsbooks and users.
Despite having a less favorable schedule, the week ending February 20 still had a strong total handle. The seven sportsbook operators combined to bring in $353.4 million. Operators have combined to average a 7.2% hold on the market which translates to $25.4 million in the sports betting market.
New York has the highest tax rate based on revenue in the industry which is set at 51%. For the week, sportsbook operators owe the state $12.9 million in taxes. Through 20 days of the shortest month of the year, bettors have placed a total of $1.1 billion in wagers.
Sportsbooks That Had Success in February
For the first 20 days of the month, FanDuel had a sports betting handle of approximately $420.6 million and revenue of about $11.7 million. DraftKings secured the second position with around $292.3 million in wagers and the highest revenue of about $21.9 million.
Caesars followed by bringing nearly $248.3 million in wagers and revenue of $15.7 million. BetMGM was the last sportsbook operator to surpass the $100 million handle mark with a handle of approximately $112.5 million and just $1.6 million in revenue. The sportsbooks with the next highest handles in order are PointsBet, BetRivers, and WynnBet.
For the week ending in February, the only sportsbook that had a handle that passed the $100 million mark was FanDuel, with a handle of approximately $130.6 million and a revenue total of around $12.3 million. With these numbers, FanDuel had a strong handle share of 37 percent and a revenue share of 48.3 percent.
DraftKings also secured the second position for the week ending February 20 with a handle nearly hitting $93.9 million. That was good for a handle share of 26.6 percent, which was eight percent higher than Caesars’ total handle for that week.
This raises questions for Caesars, who offered the biggest new user promotion to grab the early lead in the Empire State with the Manning Brothers as the main ambassadors for the sportsbook.
While all competitors that operate in the state saw their sportsbook’s handle rise for the week ending February 13, Caesars‘ handle fell from what was reported the previous week. It’s important to note that the week ending February 13 includes the Super Bowl.
