Monday is the kind of sports day that New York sportsbooks dream of.
The U.S.’s most lucrative sports betting market will take wagers on games involving a pair of popular New York City baseball organizations facing critical playoff showdowns and two in-state NFL teams battling for first place in the AFC East.
The New York Mets look to even things up in the National League Championship Series at 4:08 p.m. ET after the Los Angeles Dodgers took Game 1 9-0 on Sunday.
The New York Yankees square off at home with the Cleveland Guardians at 7:38 p.m. ET in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Less than an hour later, Josh Allen and the visiting Buffalo Bills take on Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets in primetime on Monday Night Football.
Pro sports drive wagering in most markets, and the Empire State is home to extremely popular franchises.
New York has seen massive action since football returned in full in September. The Empire State’s nine online operators reported a $516.8 million handle in the final week of September as the NFL was in full swing and regular-season baseball wound down.
That weekly total will likely put New York over $2 billion in wagers for the month and put the Empire State’s year-to-date handle near $16 billion, about $2 billion ahead of 2023’s nine-month total. Operators have hauled in more than $1.5 billion in gross revenue in 2024 with 51% of that going into the state’s coffers.
Since online wagering went live in January 2022, New York sports betting has generated more than $50 billion in handle and $4 billion in operator revenue.
N.Y. betting insights
The Jets carry the name of the most populated city in the Empire State and the entire U.S., but the Bills are the team bettors are backing on MNF. Roughly 80% of the tickets and 79% of the money, according to BetMGM.
Buffalo, a 1-point road favorite, opened up at -2.5. The spread currently sits at -1.5 at Fanatics.
“This is one of the biggest disparities between tickets and handle that I’ve seen for an NFL spread this season,” said Max Meyer, senior editor at Fanatics Sportsbook. “There are many bettors happy to take the Bills under a field goal after watching the Jets circus unfold over the past week. But the majority of the bigger bets coming in on New York is why this line has gone down.”
The most-bet player prop at BetMGM is over 24.5 receiving yards by Jets running back Breece Hall.
The Mets could see some action in New York on Monday as a +120 underdog as they try to bounce back from a rough performance on Sunday, but the Dodgers are getting 56% of the money at BetMGM overall.
Dodgers-Mets Game 2 betting at #BetMGM@Dodgers open -145, no movement
— John Ewing (@johnewing) October 14, 2024
?? 52% of bets, 56% of money on Dodgers
Total open 8.5, now 8
?? 60% of bets, 72% of money on Under@Mets open +1.5 (-185), no movement
?? 15% of bets, 11% of money on Mets
Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea has the most-bet player prop of under 5.5 strikeouts, while shortstop Francisco Lindor over 0.5 home runs is No. 2 at BetMGM.
The Yankees, who are -200 to win the series at BetMGM, are as high as a -166 favorite to win Game 1 at DraftKings as the Guardians are getting +140 on the moneyline at most U.S. sportsbooks. The Bronx Bombers are getting 85% of the handle at BetMGM.
Aaron Judge to hit a home run has been a popular player prop throughout the playoffs and is again seeing the most action at BetMGM for Game 1.
Fresh on the scene
Monday presents ESPN BET with an opportunity to continue to gauge where it stands in the Empire State. PENN Entertainment’s sports betting platform went live for the first time during the final weekend of September since acquiring WynnBet’s New York operating license for $25 million and receiving regulatory approval.
The big-name-branded online sportsbook took in $3 million in wagers that first weekend followed by $9.1 million in ESPN BET’s first full week of New York action.
The New York Gaming Commission has released betting numbers from the week ending Oct. 6 for all mobile sportsbooks except FanDuel, the state’s market-share leader. ESPN BET is likely to rank seventh among nine online operators with only Bally Bet and Resorts World Bet trailing the newcomer.
With a 12.6% hold during the first full week, ESPN BET hauled in a solid $1.1 million in revenue, which will be good enough for sixth among all Empire State operators.
