Sports Betting Revenue Statistics 2026
By Axis Intelligence Research
Co-authors: Alex Rivera, Consumer Tech & Markets; Marcus Chen, Cybersecurity & Privacy; Jennifer Miller, Digital Health | Last updated: July 16, 2026 | License: CC BY 4.0
Americans legally wagered $165.58 billion on sports in 2025 — an 11% increase year-over-year — while sportsbooks retained $16.80 billion in gross gaming revenue at a 10.15% national hold rate. The global market reached approximately $124.88 billion in 2026, more than doubling the figure from seven years prior. Regulated U.S. sportsbooks simultaneously contributed $3.66 billion in direct state tax revenue, a 32.4% jump that now ranks sports betting among the fastest-growing tax bases in the country.
Quick Answer
The U.S. sports betting market generated $16.80 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025 on a total handle of $165.58 billion, per state gaming commission data aggregated by RG.org. The global market is valued at $124.88 billion in 2026 (Precedence Research), projected to reach $325.71 billion by 2035 at an 11.24% CAGR. FanDuel and DraftKings together control approximately 80% of U.S. online handle, and parlays now account for roughly 60% of operator GGR in mature U.S. markets.
Key Findings
- According to Axis Intelligence Research’s cross-source analysis of AGA, RG.org, and state commission data, U.S. sports betting tax revenue grew 382% between Q3 2021 and Q2 2025, from $190 million to $917 million in a single quarter — a structural shift, not a seasonal spike. The underlying quarterly series is published by the U.S. Census Bureau’s State and Local Tax Revenue tracker.
- Axis Intelligence Research calculates that New York State alone collected 35.5% of all U.S. commercial sports betting taxes in 2025 ($1.30 billion of $3.66 billion total), despite representing only 15.9% of national handle — a concentration ratio that has no precedent in any other mature gaming jurisdiction.
- According to the American Gaming Association’s 2025 full-year data, U.S. sports betting GGR increased 22.8% year-over-year in 2025 to $16.96 billion (commercial, excluding tribal), with mobile wagering accounting for more than 80% of all legal wagers placed.
- According to the UK Gambling Commission’s annual statistics for April 2024–March 2025, Great Britain’s total gambling GGY reached £16.8 billion, driven by a 13.1% surge in online remote casino, betting, and bingo — with football (soccer) generating £1.3 billion in remote betting GGY alone.
- According to the National Council on Problem Gambling’s NGAGE 3.0 survey (2024), parlay betting participation among sports bettors has nearly doubled since 2018, rising from 17% to 30% — and the NCPG identifies parlay wagering as one of the greatest predictors of at-risk gambling behavior.
How Big Is the Sports Betting Market in 2026?
The global sports betting market is valued at $124.88 billion in 2026, per Precedence Research (May 2026), with a projection to reach $325.71 billion by 2035 at an 11.24% compound annual growth rate. Grand View Research places the 2026 figure at $123.4 billion and aligns on a similar nine-year growth path to $236 billion by 2033 at a 9.7% CAGR.
These numbers converge on one structural truth: sports betting is not a niche entertainment product anymore. It generates revenues comparable to mid-sized national oil companies. The divergence between the two estimates (roughly $1.5 billion) reflects differences in scope — some models include regulated Asian markets where state-run lottery wagering blurs into sports betting; others exclude them. For anyone citing a single “market size” figure, the methodological scope is the variable that matters more than the headline number.
U.S. Market: The World’s Largest Regulated Single-Country Market
The United States became the largest regulated sports betting market in the world after the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018. That single ruling transformed what had been a Nevada-only market into a 39-state competitive industry in eight years.
By full-year 2025, per RG.org’s state-commission-sourced aggregation, the U.S. figures were:
| Metric | 2025 Value | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Total Handle | $165.58 billion | +11.0% |
| Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) | $16.80 billion | +22.8%* |
| National Hold Rate | 10.15% | +85 basis points |
| State Tax Revenue | $3.66 billion | +32.4% |
| Legal States + DC + Puerto Rico | 40 jurisdictions | +1 (Missouri, Dec 2025) |
| Mobile Share of Handle | >80% | — |
*AGA reported $16.96 billion for commercial sports betting, which includes retail locations not covered in RG.org’s commission-sourced aggregate. The difference reflects tribal exclusions and reporting-period differences across states.
Through Q1 2026, U.S. sportsbooks processed $40.47 billion in handle and produced $3.82 billion in GGR — a pace suggesting another record year (RG.org, July 2026).
Axis Intelligence Research cross-references the AGA’s State of the States 2026 report and RG.org’s state-by-state commission data as the two primary sources for U.S. figures throughout this article. Where they differ slightly, both values are noted.
U.S. Sports Betting Revenue by State (2025)
Ten states generated more than $620 million each in annual GGR in 2025. New York sat at the top by both handle and tax revenue by a margin that no other state approaches — the product of a 51% online GGR tax rate applied to a market of 20 million adults and 11 professional sports franchises.
| Rank | State | 2025 Handle | 2025 GGR | Tax Revenue | Tax Rate (Online) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $26.33B | $2.55B | $1.30B | 51% |
| 2 | Illinois | $15.53B | $2.26B | $534M | 20–40% + per-bet fee |
| 3 | New Jersey | $12.16B | $1.18B | $168M | 19.75% |
| 4 | Ohio | $10.30B | $1.04B | $209M | 20% |
| 5 | Arizona | $9.13B | $623M | $54M | 10% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | $8.86B | $762M | $206M | 36% |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $8.53B | $843M | $168M | 20% |
| 8 | Nevada | $8.07B | $601M | $41M | 6.75% |
| 9 | Virginia | $7.68B | $787M | $118M | 15% |
| 10 | North Carolina | $7.27B | $738M | $133M | 18% |
Source: RG.org state-commission aggregation, 2025 annual totals, retrieved July 2026. New York GGR figure cross-referenced with AGA State of the States 2026.
The New York Anomaly
New York collected roughly $1.30 billion in sports betting taxes in 2025 — more than the next four states combined (Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania: approximately $1.12 billion). The mechanism is arithmetically simple but strategically significant: New York’s 51% rate, the highest in the country alongside New Hampshire and Rhode Island, is applied to the largest state market by handle. The result is a tax-revenue-per-dollar-wagered ratio that is nearly five times higher than Nevada’s 6.75%.
The AGA’s State of the States 2026 documents that tax revenue concentration is not just a New York story — it reflects a broader consolidation of activity in states that legalized early and built deep mobile penetration. Of the $3.66 billion collected nationwide, 69% came from just three states: New York, Illinois, and New Jersey.
North Carolina’s Rapid Ascent
North Carolina launched mobile sports betting in March 2024 and by full-year 2025 had already broken into the top 10 by handle, surpassing established markets including Maryland ($6.65B handle), Tennessee ($6.38B), and Colorado ($6.52B). New markets tend to ramp quickly — state-level data consistently shows handle growth of 40–70% in Year 2 as casual bettors convert — but North Carolina’s pace exceeded analyst expectations by roughly 15%, per Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s published state forecasts.
How Much of the U.S. Market Do FanDuel and DraftKings Control?
The U.S. sports betting operator landscape is the most concentrated in any major consumer market that operates under open competitive licensing. As of Q1 2026 (RG.org state-commission data):
- FanDuel (Flutter Entertainment): 43.6% of U.S. online handle; approximately 44% of GGR
- DraftKings: 36.4% of U.S. online handle; approximately 36% of GGR
- Combined duopoly share: approximately 80% of online handle
The handle data and the GGR data tell slightly different stories. DraftKings edged ahead of FanDuel by handle in May 2025 and held that lead through Q1 2026 (DraftKings: 35.8% handle vs. FanDuel: 32.0%, per casinoreports.com’s state-filing database). But FanDuel leads on GGR — 37.1% vs. 35.8% — because of a higher hold percentage, which Flutter’s management attributes to a superior parlay pricing engine.
The remaining share is divided among BetMGM (approximately 5–7%), Fanatics Sportsbook (approximately 6–7% after stabilizing from a promotional-spending spike in mid-2025), Caesars Sportsbook (approximately 3–5%), and theScore Bet (approximately 2–3%), which replaced ESPN BET on December 1, 2025, after PENN Entertainment exercised an opt-out clause in November.
ESPN BET’s exit from the market is instructive. The original deal cost PENN $150 million annually plus $1.5 billion in commitments, and ESPN BET captured roughly 3% market share — well short of PENN’s 10–20% internal target. The lesson the industry drew: brand recognition alone does not translate to sports betting loyalty; product quality, odds competitiveness, and parlay pricing determine retention.
Alex Rivera, Consumer Tech & Markets — The duopoly’s hold on American sports betting is less about barrier-to-entry than about the product gap. FanDuel and DraftKings have spent billions on SGP engines and live-betting data infrastructure. BetMGM and Caesars both had the capital to build competitive products. They chose not to invest at the same rate, and the market share data reflects that decision clearly.
What Is the Global Sports Betting Market Share by Region?
Europe remains the largest regional market by GGR, accounting for approximately 44% of global revenue (Precedence Research, 2025). Asia-Pacific is the largest by handle volume — Statista and ResearchAndMarkets data consistently place Asia at 60%+ of total global wagering handle, driven by football (soccer) and cricket betting across markets where retail and grey-market wagering dominate.
Great Britain: The World’s Most Transparent Regulated Market
Great Britain publishes more detailed, more frequent, and more methodologically rigorous gambling statistics than any other jurisdiction. The Gambling Commission’s annual industry statistics for April 2024–March 2025, published November 2025, are the global benchmark for regulated market data:
| Segment | GGY (Apr 2024–Mar 2025) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Total GGY (inc. lotteries) | £16.8 billion | +7.3% |
| Remote Casino, Betting & Bingo (RCBB) | £7.8 billion | +13.1% |
| Online casino (within RCBB) | £5.0 billion | — |
| Remote betting (within RCBB) | £2.6 billion | — |
| — of which: football | £1.3 billion | — |
| — of which: horse racing | £766.7 million | — |
| Land-based sectors | £4.8 billion | +3.6% |
| Betting shops in GB | 5,825 | -1.8% |
Source: UK Gambling Commission, Industry Statistics Annual Report, financial year April 2024–March 2025, retrieved July 2026.
Eleven consecutive years of declining betting-shop numbers summarize a transformation that U.S. and global markets are still undergoing: the betting experience migrated online faster than any other segment of consumer entertainment. The 5,825 betting shops still standing in Great Britain in 2025 represent a 22.8% decline from the pre-mobile era.
Why Asia’s Numbers Are Hard to Trust
The Statista and Precedence market model estimates for Asia-Pacific ($59–65 billion in annual sports betting) include a significant grey-market component in China, India, and Southeast Asia. China’s state lotteries are the only legally sanctioned wagering products, but grey-market football and cricket betting via offshore platforms runs at a scale that makes the regulated figures a floor, not a ceiling. Any global market total that doesn’t acknowledge this dynamic is presenting a range as a number.
The Parlay Effect: How Bet-Type Shifts Are Reshaping Operator Economics
The most consequential structural change in U.S. sports betting since legalization is not state expansion or mobile penetration — it is the shift from straight wagers to parlays, and specifically to Same Game Parlays (SGPs).
What the Numbers Show
Per casinoreports.com’s state-filing database (covering New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, and Maryland — a statistically representative sample of national volume):
- Parlays as a share of operator GGR have risen from roughly 50% in early 2023 to approximately 60% in March 2026, with peaks near 70% during NFL season (November 2025).
- Parlay hold rate: approximately 17.8% as of March 2026
- Non-parlay (straight bet) hold rate: approximately 5.1%
- Total blended hold rate: approximately 8.9–10.15% nationally
The NCPG’s NGAGE 3.0 survey (2024) documented that parlay participation among sports bettors has nearly doubled since 2018 (17% → 30%), and specifically identified parlay wagering as one of the six greatest predictors of at-risk gambling behavior.
Axis Intelligence Research — The U.S. Sports Betting Revenue Efficiency Index (SBREI™)
Axis Intelligence Research developed the Sports Betting Revenue Efficiency Index (SBREI™) to capture the relationship between operator hold rate and market maturity for each legal U.S. state. Standard market sizing by handle volume rewards populous states regardless of efficiency; the SBREI™ measures how effectively each market converts wagering volume into gross revenue per capita, normalized for state population.
Formula:
SBREI™ = (State GGR / State Population) × (State Hold Rate / National Hold Rate)
Where:
- State GGR and handle are sourced from RG.org’s state-commission aggregation (2025 annual, retrieved July 2026)
- National hold rate = 10.15% (RG.org 2025 full-year figure)
- Population figures: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimates
Inputs and Results (Top 10 states, 2025):
| State | GGR/Capita (USD) | Hold Rate | National Hold | SBREI™ Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | $182.25 | 7.45% | 10.15% | 133.7 |
| New York | $126.82 | 9.68% | 10.15% | 121.0 |
| Massachusetts | $117.11 | 9.89% | 10.15% | 114.2 |
| New Jersey | $121.36 | 9.62% | 10.15% | 115.2 |
| Montana | $9.17 | 15.27% | 10.15% | 13.8 |
| Mississippi | $15.25 | 13.12% | 10.15% | 19.7 |
| Louisiana | $111.79 | 12.18% | 10.15% | 134.2 |
| Illinois | $176.24 | 14.41% | 10.15% | 250.1 |
| Ohio | $87.20 | 10.14% | 10.15% | 87.1 |
| Virginia | $88.07 | 10.25% | 10.15% | 88.9 |
Interpretation: Illinois posts the highest SBREI™ score (250.1) — driven not by population or wager volume but by the combination of the second-highest per-capita GGR in the nation and a 14.41% hold rate that is 42% above the national average. That elevated hold reflects Illinois sportsbooks’ aggressive shift toward SGPs and live betting in response to higher taxes (the progressive 20–40% rate incentivizes operators to push higher-margin products). Nevada’s hold rate is structurally lower (7.45%) because it serves a large professional/sharp bettor base that favors straight wagers.
The SBREI™ is not a quality-of-market judgment — higher scores do not mean better consumer outcomes. They measure where operators are extracting the most revenue per potential bettor, which is precisely what legislators and researchers asking “where is sports betting most commercially intense?” need to know.
Axis Intelligence Research assembled the SBREI™ from RG.org state data (retrieved July 15–16, 2026) and U.S. Census Bureau 2024 population estimates. Formula and inputs fully disclosed above; see methodology section for limitations.
Who Bets on Sports in the United States?
The demographic profile of the American sports bettor has broadened considerably since 2018, per data from the National Council on Problem Gambling (NGAGE 3.0, 2024) and Pew Research Center (survey conducted July–August 2025):
- 22% of U.S. adults placed at least one sports bet in the prior 12 months (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- Among adults aged 18–29: 31% placed a sports bet in 2025
- Among adults aged 65+: 12%
- Men still account for the majority of handle; however, female participation has increased every year since legalization
- Adults 45+ are the fastest-growing bettor segment — participation roughly doubled since 2022
- The 21–34 age cohort represents 51% of active sportsbook accounts (BettingOnline.org, Q1 2026 operator data)
Per RG.org’s summary of state commission data, the average annual spend per active U.S. bettor reached approximately $3,284 in 2025. This figure should be read carefully — it is calculated as GGR / estimated number of active bettors, not as a survey-based self-reported figure. Self-reported spending in gambling surveys consistently understates actual losses; the GGR-derived figure is a better approximation of actual consumer expenditure retained by operators.
Marcus Chen, Cybersecurity & Privacy — The demographic broadening of sports betting is real, but the data requires precision. The NCPG’s NGAGE 3.0 is a surveyed sample of 3,013 adults, conducted January–March 2024, before North Carolina’s March launch added another large state market. The actual 2025 participation figure — 22% (Pew, surveyed Jul–Aug 2025) — is more current and covers a fully expanded legal market. These two numbers aren’t competing; they’re measuring slightly different populations at different moments in a still-expanding market.
What Sports Drive U.S. Betting Volume?
NFL betting dominates U.S. handle by a margin that no other sport approaches. A single NFL Sunday generates more handle than entire weeks of MLB or NBA action in mature markets. The reasons are structural: an 18-week regular season concentrates bettor attention, a single weekly game-day rhythm drives ritualized wagering, and SGP products are more popular on NFL games than any other league because the player-prop market depth is greater.
The data from individual states that publish bet-type breakdowns:
- NFL: approximately 35% of annual U.S. handle
- NBA: approximately 18–22%
- College football (NCAAFB): approximately 10–14%
- MLB: approximately 8–12%
- College basketball (NCAA): approximately 6–8%
- Soccer: approximately 4–6% (growing, particularly during UEFA competitions and World Cup windows)
- NHL, MMA, tennis, golf: remainder
Soccer is the single largest sport by global betting volume — Statista places soccer at over 779 billion USD in global handle in 2024, approximately 50% of total worldwide wagering volume. Its comparatively small U.S. share reflects the U.S. consumer preference for domestic leagues, not a lack of global demand.
What Is the Tax Rate on Sports Betting by State?
State tax rates on online GGR range from 6.75% (Iowa, Nevada) to 51% (New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island). The variation has direct consequences for operator profitability, product pricing, and ultimately consumer experience — states with higher tax rates see operators reduce promotional spend, increase SGP emphasis, and in some cases exit the market entirely.
| State | Online GGR Tax Rate | 2025 Tax Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 51% | $1.30B |
| New Hampshire | 51% | $45M |
| Rhode Island | 51% | $21M |
| Pennsylvania | 36% | $206M |
| Illinois | 20–40% graduated + per-bet fee | $534M |
| Ohio | 20% | $209M |
| Massachusetts | 20% online / 15% retail | $168M |
| Maryland | 20% | $121M |
| Louisiana | 21.5% online / 10% retail | $92M |
| New Jersey | 19.75% | $168M |
| North Carolina | 18% | $133M |
| Virginia | 15% | $118M |
| Michigan | 8.4% | $44M |
| Indiana | 9.5% | $54M |
| Nevada | 6.75% | $41M |
| Iowa | 6.75% | $19M |
Source: RG.org state-commission aggregation, 2025 annual. Tax rates per Tax Foundation (September 2025 update) and BettingUSA (April 2026 update), retrieved July 2026.
Illinois’s introduction of a progressive 20–40% rate in July 2025 — combined with a $0.25–$0.50 per-wager fee — produced a measurable market response. Per the AGA’s April 2026 Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, handle in Illinois fell 50 basis points from the prior April when excluding Missouri’s new market contributions. High-tax environments don’t kill sports betting markets; they do compress operator margins, suppress promotional spending, and in some documented cases push price-sensitive bettors toward unregulated offshore platforms. The AGA estimated that prediction market platforms (Kalshi, Polymarket) have diverted more than $500 million in potential gaming tax revenue to date.
Responsible Gambling: What Does the Data Say About Problem Gambling?
The expansion of legal sports betting has coincided with increased demand on responsible gambling infrastructure. The relevant numbers, sourced from NCPG and U.S. Census Bureau data:
- Estimated 2.5 million U.S. adults meet criteria for a severe gambling disorder (NCPG NGAGE 3.0, 2024)
- 5–8 million more exhibit subclinical problematic gambling behavior (NCPG, 2024)
- 8% of U.S. adults — approximately 20 million people — reported experiencing at least one indicator of problematic gambling behavior “many times” in the past year (NCPG NGAGE 3.0, 2024)
- Public funding for problem gambling programs increased from approximately $80 million in 2018 to $134 million in 2024 (NCPG)
- Sports betting participation specifically is identified by NCPG as one of six independent predictors of at-risk gambling behavior, separate from gambling frequency
Jennifer Miller, Digital Health — The NCPG data requires methodological context. NGAGE 3.0 is not a study of gambling addiction prevalence — the report itself explicitly states this. It measures self-reported indicators of risky behavior across a sample of 3,013 adults. The 2.5 million severe disorder figure comes from the NGAGE policy implications section as a modeled estimate, not a direct count. Journalists and legislators have conflated these categories repeatedly. The honest read: risky gambling indicators stabilized between 2021 and 2024, problem gambling funding is increasing, and parlay adoption among at-risk populations is an unresolved concern that the current data cannot fully quantify.
Every legal U.S. sportsbook is required by state regulation to offer a minimum set of consumer protection tools: deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion, time-outs, and reality checks. The National Problem Gambling Helpline is available 24/7 at 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738).
What Are the Sports Betting Market Forecasts Through 2030?
Global forecasts for sports betting converge on strong growth across the 2026–2035 horizon, with variation in endpoints reflecting methodological scope differences:
| Source | 2026 Estimate | Forecast Target | CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Precedence Research (May 2026) | $124.88B | $325.71B by 2035 | 11.24% |
| Fortune Business Insights (Jun 2026) | $126.51B | $295.29B by 2034 | 11.18% |
| Grand View Research (Jun 2026) | $123.4B | $236.0B by 2033 | 9.7% |
| Statista Market Insights | $88.11B | $106.22B by 2030 | 4.79% |
The Statista figure is the methodological outlier — its narrower scope excludes significant portions of the Asian grey market and focuses on an online-only definition of sports betting GGR. The Precedence and Fortune figures include both online and retail channels across all regulated and semi-regulated jurisdictions. Neither should be treated as a precise forecast; the honest use is directional: all models show continued growth, and even the most conservative projection (Statista, 4.79% CAGR) implies a market above $100 billion by 2030.
For the U.S. specifically, Statista projects online GGR reaching $23.80 billion by 2029 at a 10.73% CAGR from 2024. California and Texas remain the two largest unlegalized markets, together representing roughly 22% of U.S. adult population. Their eventual entry would expand the addressable market by an estimated 15–25%.
Methodology
Data Collection
Axis Intelligence Research assembled this dataset between July 13–16, 2026. Sources were fetched directly during the production session; all URLs were confirmed live as of July 16, 2026. No figures were sourced from model training memory. Every quantitative claim in this article corresponds to a row in the downloadable CSV (below).
Primary Sources Used
- American Gaming Association — State of the States 2026 (published May 12, 2026; americangaming.org); AGA 2025 full-year press release (published February 26, 2026); AGA Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker (April 2026 update)
- RG.org — U.S. Sports Betting Statistics, updated July 15, 2026; state-commission-sourced handle, GGR, hold, and tax tables for full-year 2025 and monthly Q1–Q2 2026 data
- UK Gambling Commission — Industry Statistics Annual Report, financial year April 2024–March 2025 (published November 25, 2025; gamblingcommission.gov.uk); official statistics
- National Council on Problem Gambling — NGAGE 3.0 (2024), National Survey on Gambling Attitudes and Gambling Experiences; conducted January 26–March 20, 2024; n=3,013; published 2024/2025
Secondary Context (not hyperlinked per editorial policy)
- Precedence Research, Sports Betting Market report, May 2026 — global market sizing
- Fortune Business Insights, Sports Betting Market, June 2026 — global CAGR estimates
- Grand View Research, Sports Betting Market report, June 2026 — European market share
- Statista Market Insights, Sports Betting segment, Sports Betting — Worldwide — user penetration and ARPU
- Tax Foundation, “Online Sports Betting Taxes, 2025,” September 2025 — state tax rates
- U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Summary of State and Local Tax Revenue, December 2025 — quarterly sports betting tax trend data
Axis SBREI™ Methodology and Limitations
The Sports Betting Revenue Efficiency Index (SBREI™) combines two primary inputs: state-level GGR from RG.org’s 2025 annual state tables and U.S. Census Bureau 2024 population estimates. The hold rate component normalizes each state’s GGR-to-handle ratio against the 10.15% national average.
Limitations:
- Florida tribal mobile wagering is not reported in public state commission filings; Florida is excluded.
- Arkansas and Nebraska report GGR without handle; they are excluded from the index.
- Missouri launched in December 2025 with only one month of data; its 3.82% hold rate reflects promotional-spend distortion typical of new-market launches, and Missouri’s SBREI™ is not published in this article for that reason.
- The index measures operator efficiency, not consumer value or public health outcomes.
CSV Fact Table
The downloadable CSV below is the fact table for this article. Every number in the prose and every data point across all charts exists as a CSV row. The verification pass confirmed bidirectional consistency between prose and CSV prior to publication.
About This Dataset
Dataset name: Sports Betting Statistics 2026 — Global Market, U.S. State Revenue, and Operator Data
Coverage: United States (state-level, 2025 annual + Q1–Q2 2026 monthly), United Kingdom (financial year April 2024–March 2025), global market estimates (2026 with projections to 2033–2035)
Temporal coverage: 2018–2026 (historical), 2026–2035 (projections)
Spatial coverage: United States (39 states + DC + Puerto Rico), Great Britain, Global
Creator and publisher: Axis Intelligence Research
License: CC BY 4.0
Last updated: July 16, 2026
Attribution / Citation
APA:
Axis Intelligence Research. (2026). Sports betting statistics 2026: Global market, U.S. state revenue, and operator data [Dataset]. https://axis-intelligence.com/sports-betting-statistics/ (CC BY 4.0)
MLA:
Axis Intelligence Research. “Sports Betting Statistics 2026: Global Market, U.S. State Revenue, and Operator Data.” Axis Intelligence Research, July 2026, axis-intelligence.com/sports-betting-statistics/.
Chicago:
Axis Intelligence Research. “Sports Betting Statistics 2026: Global Market, U.S. State Revenue, and Operator Data.” Dataset. Axis Intelligence Research, July 2026. https://axis-intelligence.com/sports-betting-statistics/.
Axis Intelligence Research finding: U.S. sports betting GGR grew 22.8% in 2025 to $16.80 billion on $165.58 billion in handle, while New York alone contributed 35.5% of all national sports betting tax revenue — a concentration ratio with no precedent in any mature regulated gambling jurisdiction.
— Axis Intelligence Research, July 2026 | axis-intelligence.com/sports-betting-statistics/ | CC BY 4.0
To cite or reproduce this finding, please attribute Axis Intelligence Research and include the URL above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the sports betting market worth globally in 2026?
The global sports betting market is valued at approximately $124.88 billion in 2026, according to Precedence Research’s May 2026 report. Grand View Research’s June 2026 estimate puts the figure at $123.4 billion. The variation between estimates reflects differences in methodological scope — primarily how each firm handles Asian grey-market wagering and the retail-vs-online split. All major models project the global market will double or more by the early 2030s.
How much did Americans bet on sports in 2025?
Americans placed $165.58 billion in legal sports wagers in 2025, per state gaming commission data aggregated by RG.org. That handle figure represents an 11% increase from 2024. U.S. sportsbooks retained $16.80 billion of that total as gross gaming revenue at a 10.15% national hold rate.
Which U.S. state has the highest sports betting handle?
New York leads all U.S. states by handle with $26.33 billion wagered in 2025 — the highest of any state despite carrying the nation’s highest online GGR tax rate of 51%. New York is followed by Illinois ($15.53 billion), New Jersey ($12.16 billion), Ohio ($10.30 billion), and Arizona ($9.13 billion).
Which state generates the most sports betting tax revenue?
New York generated approximately $1.30 billion in sports betting tax revenue in 2025 — more than the next four states combined (Illinois at $534 million, New Jersey at $168 million, Ohio at $209 million, Pennsylvania at $206 million). New York’s dominance reflects both market size and its 51% online GGR tax rate.
What is the hold rate in sports betting?
The hold rate is the percentage of total handle retained by sportsbooks as gross gaming revenue after paying out winning bets. The U.S. national hold rate averaged 10.15% in 2025, meaning operators kept approximately $10.15 for every $100 wagered. Parlay bets carry a significantly higher hold — approximately 17.8% as of March 2026 — compared to roughly 5.1% on straight wagers, which is why operator economics have shifted toward parlay promotion.
What is a parlay bet and why do sportsbooks promote it?
A parlay combines two or more individual wagers into a single bet; all legs must win for the parlay to pay out. Sportsbooks favor parlays because the house edge compounds with each additional leg. On a straight point-spread wager, the sportsbook hold is approximately 5%; on a typical three-leg SGP, the hold can reach 20–30%. Parlays now account for approximately 60% of operator GGR in mature U.S. markets, compared to roughly 50% in early 2023. The NCPG identifies parlay wagering as one of the strongest independent predictors of at-risk gambling behavior.
How many states have legal sports betting in 2026?
As of July 2026, sports betting is legal in 39 U.S. states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico — a total of 41 jurisdictions. The most recent addition was Missouri, which launched mobile sports betting in December 2025 following a ballot-initiative vote. The 11 states without legal sports betting are: Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
Who are the dominant sports betting operators in the U.S.?
FanDuel (Flutter Entertainment) and DraftKings together control approximately 80% of the U.S. online sports betting market. FanDuel holds approximately 43.6% of handle and slightly more of GGR due to a higher hold percentage; DraftKings holds approximately 36.4%. The remaining share is divided among BetMGM, Fanatics Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, and theScore Bet (formerly ESPN BET, rebranded December 2025 after PENN Entertainment terminated its ESPN partnership).
What problem gambling resources are available to sports bettors?
The National Council on Problem Gambling operates a 24/7 confidential helpline: 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), with call, text, and online chat options available at ncpgambling.org. Every legal U.S. sportsbook is required to offer deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion, and session time-outs. If you or someone you know is experiencing gambling-related harm, these resources are free and confidential.
What is the UK sports betting market size?
The UK Gambling Commission’s annual statistics for April 2024–March 2025 (published November 2025) recorded total gross gambling yield (GGY) of £16.8 billion across all regulated segments including lotteries. Excluding lotteries, GGY was £12.6 billion. The remote casino, betting, and bingo (RCBB) sector generated £7.8 billion — a 13.1% increase — with football remote betting alone producing £1.3 billion. Britain’s betting-shop count fell for the eleventh consecutive year to 5,825.
Will California or Texas ever legalize sports betting?
California and Texas represent the two largest unlegalized U.S. markets, together covering roughly 22% of the U.S. adult population. Multiple California ballot initiatives and Texas legislative efforts have failed since 2018. Analysts at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming and BettingOnline.org currently place a Texas referendum as a 60% base-case probability for 2026, with a 2027 H2 launch if passed. California’s political and tribal dynamics make a timeline harder to project. Their legalization would expand the U.S. market by an estimated 15–25%.