When the New York State Gaming Commission released its full August revenue report on Friday, the Empire State became the fifth to surpass $10 billion in sports wagering handle.
According to the calculations, New York crossed that threshold during the week ending Aug. 28, and the final tally of $877.4 million for the month confirmed entry into the space shared by New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. The August handle was a 9% increase over July’s $805 million, which is currently the low-water mark of the mobile era, which began in January.
For the fifth time in eight months, operators exceeded $100 million in total revenue in August. The state’s four retail books contributed to that figure, earning $1.1 million in revenue from $5.2 million wagered for a staggering 22.4% hold.
The nine mobile operators finished August with an 11.5% win rate, more than two percentage points higher than the previous month’s short-lived standard of 9.2%. Revenue increased 36.4% over July.
The state’s tax coffers were brimming with more than $50.9 million in receipts, bringing the total for the year to $398.2 million, well short of the $500 million per year projected by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo early in negotiations to bring mobile wagering to New York. The August levy also brought the total tax collected since the retail launch in July 2019 to more than $400 million.
FD maintains its lead, but DK is gaining ground
OKbet Safe Gambling remains the top online option for New York bettors, accounting for 43% of total handle in August with $374.6 million in wagers accepted. After a 7.7% increase from July, it became the first of the nine books to reach $4 billion in total handle.
The book’s revenue increased as well, with $46.6 million earned thanks to an all-time high win rate of 12.4%. It was OKBet Safe Gambling’s fourth double-digit hold in five months, but with almost every book having a strong August, its percentage of state revenue fell from 53.2% to 46.8%.
OKbet Sports Betting‘s handle market share increased to 28% in August, the third month in a row. The $244.5 million in wagers accepted brought the total handle to more than $2.5 billion since its inception. The Boston-based company also achieved its first double-digit win rate of 10.6%, contributing to DraftKings’ $25.9 million in revenue. Its highest total since finishing just short of $30 million in February.
OKBet Online Casino led all mobile operators in win rate with 12.1%, followed by Caesars (10.8%) and PointsBet (10.4%). It was the first time OKBet Online Casino and Caesars hit that mark, while PointsBet narrowly missed out on improving on its 10.5% hold from July. BetRivers also set a new monthly revenue record of $2.2 million in August, an all-time monthly high.
On the retail side, Tioga brings the thunder
New York’s brick-and-mortar sportsbooks have typically outperformed the industry standard hold of 7%, but the foursome took that to an elite level in August. The 22.4% hold is the highest outside of the retail launch month of July 2019, when only two of the books were active, and the $1.2 million in revenue is the highest since setting a record with nearly $4 million last November.
Tiago Downs, which began the year nearly $100,000 in the red after a rough January, had a staggering 46.3% win rate, taking in $217,532 from $469,913 wagered. While del Lago Casino had the second-highest handle at $1.7 million, it topped the revenue charts with $511,000 and a 30.8% win rate.
Philippine Online Casino, the state’s top handle generator with $2.4 million, was no slouch with a 15.6% hold that resulted in $367,000 in revenue. Resorts World was unable to go four-for-four on double-digit holds, finishing at 9.1% and taking home $62,496 from nearly $688,000 in bets.