New York sports bettors have picked up the pace since the summer lull, but the return of the NFL season hasn't quite led to the wagering numbers some in the industry were anticipating.
The weekly handles this fall have been in line with the spring but remain far short of the earliest days of legal New York mobile sports betting, when the week’s tallies routinely surpassed $350 million. For the week ending Oct. 16, the nine regulated sportsbooks in the state reported handle of $323 million, according to the New York Gaming Commission, the fifth time in the last six weeks the number has settled between $300 million and $325 million.
In the high-flying early days after the Jan. 8 launch, handle exceeded $400 million in four of the first five full weeks.
High holds persist
Another aspect of sports betting in New York that has settled into a fall pattern: high hold rates. Gross gaming revenue for the week was $37.2 million, a hold rate – or loss rate for bettors – of 10.5%. The nationwide hold rate for sports betting typically is around 7.2%, but New York has had double-digit hold rates in nine of the past 12 weeks.