New York Sportsbooks Take a Record $595 Million in NFL Week 1, but Bettors Won Big
The handle was up nearly 13 percent from last year's opening week while sportsbook winnings fell 44 percent to $17 million. Prediction market Kalshi reported $702 million traded on Week 1 games.
Bettors wagered $595 million with New York's online sportsbooks during the first week of the NFL season, the most for an opening week since the state launched mobile betting in 2022 and the sixth-largest week in its history.
Who came out ahead?
The bettors, by the books' standards. Sportsbooks kept $17 million, down 44 percent from Week 1 a year ago. "Favorites, overs, and touchdown-scorers combined to create a bettor-friendly trifecta on opening Sunday," said Joey Feazel of Caesars Sportsbook. New York and West Virginia are the only states that publish weekly figures.
What about prediction markets?
Kalshi said $702 million was traded on Week 1 NFL games, up 211 percent from a year earlier, and more than $1 billion including combination contracts. Cowboys-Giants was its most-traded game at $112.8 million. Eilers and Krejcik Gaming projects $40 billion will be wagered on the NFL this season across sportsbooks and prediction markets. The American Gaming Association had projected before the season that legal sportsbook handle on the NFL would be nearly flat in 2026.
Sources
- ESPN: Record $595 million bet with New York sportsbooks in NFL Week 1
