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ESPN BET generated only $9.1 million handle in its first full week as a mobile operator in New York, according to figures released by the state's gaming commission, highlighting just how much of a challenge the PENN Entertainment-owned sportsbook faces in gaining share in the largest market in the United States.
The $1.3 million average handle daily was a notable bump from the $1 million-plus in its first three days of activity from Sep. 27-29, but ESPN BET ranked seventh among the nine mobile sportsbooks for handle, ahead of only Bally Bet ($2.2 million) and Resorts World ($1.6 million). Seventh was often the spot predecessor WynnBET languished in before slowing down its operations in March and eventually shuttering at the end of July.
A silver lining for ESPN BET is that it fared well in terms of performance. Its 12.7% hold for the week led the group of nine and resulted in $1.1 million in revenue. That was enough for ESPN BET to edge BetRivers for sixth in the latter department.
The NYSGC did not have a complete snapshot of weekly data as of 4 p.m. EDT, as it was still tabulating figures from FanDuel. The other eight operators combined for $33.5 million in revenue with a 10.7% hold against $312.1 million worth of handle.
Getting to 7% in Year One Looks Like a Challenge
Even without FanDuel's numbers, ESPN BET's week one market share for handle was a meager 2.9%, well below the 7% PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden publicly said it was targeting at the end of the first year for ESPN BET, which is now within sight following its massive national rollout in mid-November of last year.
Of course, entering a pre-existing market — especially one entrenched with the two mobile superpowers of the era in FanDuel and DraftKings, as well as other notable big names in Caesars and BetMGM — is an extremely challenging proposition. Specific to New York, Caesars' whopping introductory offer at launch in January 2022, in which it matched deposits up to $3,000 and offered $300 in promotional credits and bonuses, provided legs that only now are being consistently challenged by both BetMGM and Fanatics Sportsbook when it comes to the No. 3 spot for handle in the Empire State.
A Good Week for Most Operators
DraftKings posted its seventh-best revenue haul with close to $21.3 million, which was also the 10th time it topped $20 million in a week. DraftKings notched an 11.7% hold for the week against $182.4 million handle, and its $10.8 million tax remittance pushed the all-time total above $750 million.
Fanatics, which succeeded PointsBet on the final day of February, showed it will not simply cede market share to ESPN BET. Its $43.1 million handle was an internal record for the fourth consecutive week and within shouting distance of its predecessor's all-time high of $43.9 million set in its final week of action. Fanatics still had its third-best week in terms of revenue with $3.2 million despite a pedestrian 7.4% win rate that was the lowest of the group.
Caesars had back-to-back weeks with $3 million in winnings for the first time since March 10-17, edging over the benchmark by $8,600. It attained a 9.3% hold against $32.2 million handle, the fourth week in a row with a win rate of 8% or better.
BetRivers reached seven figures in revenue for just the second time in the last 19 weeks, clearing the benchmark by $42,300 thanks to an 11.1% hold against $9.4 million handle. It is the first time BetRivers posted back-to-back double-digit holds since May 19-26.
