New York Sportsbooks Collect $1.63B in Betting Handle for March

The New York betting results for March are in with the Gaming Commission (NYSGC) reporting a good total amount of betting handle placed on some of the big events during the month. According to the regulator, a total of $1.63 billion was placed between March 1 and March 31.

Sports Betting Continues to Score Strong Results

This is still under the initial frenzy that seized the Empire State in January when the state generated a total of $1.69 billion between January 8 and January 31, the first month of online sports wagering in the state. The total amount collected in sports wagers since January 8 has reached $4.83 billion, NYSGC numbers show.

The first week of March Madness drove strong results for the state once again. The collegiate basketball event managed to bring the Empire State more than $427 million alone and it has been a pivotal contributor to the amount total enjoyed by the state’s sportsbooks.

Speaking of the operators, four sportsbooks joined the market at the beginning, to name DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers, and Caesars. However, the number of mobile betting sportsbooks has since grown to eight. A total of nine licenses are allowed. Taxes since January contributed back to the state coffers amounted to $58.28 million. The gross gaming revenue companies reported stood at $114.28 million with the rest paid out to sports bettors.

In terms of how much each separate sportsbook scooped, FanDuel seemed to be New York sports bettors’ preferred option with a total of $673.06 million, up from February’s $568.06 million in February.

FanDuel Leads the Way in Terms of Handle

FanDuel saw a positive trend in March with its gross gaming revenue hitting $58.3 million in March and easily displacing all other participants in terms of how much it has collected.

DraftKings came in second with $414.53 million, a still impressive figure. However, DraftKings only collected $22.89 million in total gross gaming revenue for the month, down from the $29.95 million collected in February. Caesars was the third-largest sportsbook in the Empire State in terms of betting handle and contributions. The sportsbook saw a total of $273.39 million worth of wagers placed with its platform in March and marked an uptick in the March gross gaming revenue to $21.58, up from $19.79 million in February.

BetMGM often cited as one of the up-and-coming operators in the United States, managed to collect $172.65 million, still up from the $154.7 million in February. One of the challenges that sportsbooks in the Empire State faced was the fairly heavy tax levy burden they carry. Sports betting revenue is taxed at a rate of 51% which determines the big payout back to the Empire State’s coffers.

Regardless, companies have been aggressive in their spending in a bid to maintain a strong position in what may soon be one of the biggest sports betting markets in the United States. The coming months, though, may see a bit of a lull outside of Major League Baseball and the upcoming horse racing Triple Crown events.