New Yorkers stake $600m in opening nine days of mobile betting

A total of $603.1m was wagered in the period from 8 January, when the state’s legal market opened, through to 16 January, the last day of the first full week since legalisation.

Figures released by the New York State Gaming Commission also showed that gross gaming revenue for the period reached $48.1m.

Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive all began operations in New York on 8 January 8, while BetMGM was permitted to launch from 17 January. As such BetMGM was not included in the first set of results.

Caesars led the way in the opening period, posting $22.7m in revenue from $257.7m in total mobile sports wagers.

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel followed in second with $14.1m in revenue and a handle of $200.4m, then DraftKings with $10.9m in revenue off $134.4m in bets.

Rush Street Interactive came in fourth in the opening nine days with $446,696 in revenue and a total handle of $10.6m.

Chris Holdren, co-president of the Caesars Digital arm of Caesars Entertainment, said the operator was “thrilled” to have led the market in the opening period of regulation.

“New Yorkers are one-of-a-kind in their passion for sports and their interest in mobile sports wagering has proven to be an unprecedented moment for this industry,” Holdren said.

“As excited as we are, our work is just getting started to provide New York sports fans the best sports betting experience in the market and we’ve appreciated customer feedback as we’ve worked to improve their experience since launch.

“We know there is room to perfect our service offering in order to provide a product that exceeds expectations and we’re in New York for the long haul to do just that.”