Mobile sportsbooks in New York generated over $188 million in December, setting a new revenue record for both the sportsbooks and the state’s share of the proceeds.
December to Remember
Excluding in-person sports betting, December was the biggest single revenue-producing month in New York’s relatively brief sports betting history. A whopping $188.3 million in revenue was generated on a 9.2% hold, or win rate, with the state getting a hefty $96 million due to its 51% share of the revenue.
The previous record lasted just two months when revenues reached $166.3 million in October while the monthly handle eclipsed $2 billion for the first time. New York has now seen three consecutive months of $2 billion handles since the precedent was set in October.
Overall, it was another impressive year for sports betting operators in the Empire State with the calendar year handle reaching 19.1 billion, up 18% from 2023, while yearly revenues spiked to $1.69 billion, up from $1.36 billion last year, with the state hauling in $861.8 million in taxes off that sports betting revenue.
Big Winners
It is not surprising that the duopoly of FanDuel and DraftKings led all challengers in both revenue and handle during New York’s historic December. FanDuel ruled all others with an $834.5 million online handle on a win rate of 11.2% which delivered a company record of $93.6 million in revenue in December.
DraftKings was not that far behind with its own stellar month in the Empire State. The Boston-based bookmaker also set personal monthly handle and revenue records as well by accepting $773.4 million in wagers which surpassed the previous high set just the month before by over $41 million. The company’s 8.4% hold generated $65.2 billion in revenues, which was another record-breaking event for DK in New York.
FanDuel Objects to Advertising Restriction
New York has placed a ban on advertising near colleges and universities in the state to restrict “predatory” marketing efforts that could target underage consumers. However, according to unredacted documents released from the October meeting, FanDuel felt the language was vague and could be misconstrued.
According to an unredacted document, FanDuel felt the verbiage could be interpreted as the area to “include unaffiliated residential and commercial areas that border a college or university campus.” The company also said it “could be read to include unaffiliated residential and commercial areas” in the local area.
According to a memo, Edmund Burns, the general counsel at the New York State Gaming Commission, said FanDuel argued the requirement was “extremely subjective and impractical to enforce” and made the example of “a liquor store not being able to advertise to customers who ‘may be’ alcoholics”.
A proposed rule requiring New York’s online sportsbooks to include a compulsive-gambling assistance message in their advertisements was also objected to by FanDuel saying that the message “would take up too much space” in its ads, according to Burns, and that this New York specific requirement would impact all the company’s national advertising.
