March Madness Provides Huge Boost For New York Sportsbooks

The numbers are in for New York sports betting apps and the state's retail providers for the wagering week encompassing the first two rounds of March Madness. It was a very good week for our best sports betting sites operating in the Empire State.

The week ending March 24 was the second-best week since launching a legal New York sports betting scene 117 months ago. Betting totals surpassed the Super Bowl week’s numbers and betting activity for any week during the NFL season.

According to the New York State Gaming Commission weekly report, the week's handle was bested by only the $572.6 million wagered for the week ending January 22, 2022, during the third full week of legal betting in the state.

It represented the third time in 2024 that a weekly handle has landed in the top 10 lifetime for the state, and was the sixth time that state wagering activity has surpassed one-half billion for a given week.

$539.6 million for the week

New York bettors came out in droves during the first week of the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball tournaments. New York sports betting apps and retails accepted $539.6 million in wagers for the week ending March 24, the second-largest weekly handle ever.

Year-over-year, wagering activity for the first week of March Madness, which ended March 19 of last year, was up over 17%.

Despite the high handle, New York sportsbooks didn't fare all that well against bettors in the state during its second-best week ever. The hold rate was just 5.8%, far below the average 8% nationwide and the lowest since a miserable 1.1% win rate for the week that ended February 11. Residents had a great month while availing of New York sportsbook promos.

It resulted in $31.2 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for New York sportsbooks, which is well above monthly totals from the bulk of the top 10 states in the American market.

FanDuel the top dog

As has become customary in the Empire State market, FanDuel New York was by far the most popular New York sports betting site for the week ending March 24. It claimed a 45% market share for the week and accepted $244.8 million in bets for the seven-day period - the third-best weekly total for any single sportsbook in that market ever. An underwhelming 5.7% hold produced $14 million in winnings, which is the second-best one-week win for a New York provider.

DraftKings New York was next, with $174.4 million in accepted wagers for the week ending March 24. It claimed $10.3 million in revenues from a sub-6% win rate.

Caesars New York was third with $48.2 million in wagers for the week and $2.9 million in revenues, BetMGM New York was next with $30.2 million in wagers, Fanatics Sportsbook New York showed up with an $18.4 million handle and BetRivers New York checked in with $18.4 million in bets.