The most lucrative sports betting jurisdiction in the U.S. experienced a 15.2% year-over-year handle decrease during a quieter August, while gross revenue also dipped 5.4%.
Key Takeaways
- New York's handle fell from last August when a single Fanatics bettor drove hundreds of millions of dollars in action.
- Operators generated $168.5 million in gross revenue.
- DraftKings outdueled FanDuel in handle for the second consecutive month.
The New York State Gaming Commission recently reported that the eight online operators generated $1.73 billion in wagers during August, the lowest monthly handle since July 2025.
August marked the first year-over-year decline since May, as the Knicks and World Cup kept wagering dollars high during June and July. It's unclear how much, if any, of the decrease was related to the rise of prediction markets.
Last August’s betting figures were helped tremendously by a single bettor who wagered hundreds of millions of dollars through Fanatics. Without that bettor's activity, Fanatics' handle declined 60% year over year.
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Sports calendar slows
While World Cup action fed July’s $1.88-billion handle and over $214 million in gross revenue, online New York sports betting relied on MLB, the NFL preseason, and college football’s Week Zero to push wagering. Last August, meanwhile, featured the first full Saturday of college football.
Operators produced a 9.7% hold, up about a percentage point from August 2025, to generate $168.5 million in gross revenue. That’s the second-lowest amount of New York revenue in 2026, but operators made at least $30 million every week in August for the second consecutive year.
New York filled its coffers with $85.9 million from the state’s 51% tax rate, increasing the year-to-date total over $810 million.
DraftKings stays popular
| Online Operator | August Handle | Gross Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | $614 million | $56.3 million |
| FanDuel | $599.6 million | $64 million |
| Fanatics Sportsbook | $213.2 million | $18.8 million |
| BetMGM | $119.9 million | $12.6 million |
| Caesars | $112.4 million | $10.2 million |
DraftKings generated the most dollars wagered in New York for the second consecutive month. The online operator’s 9.2% hold on a $614-million handle produced $56.3 million in gross revenue.
FanDuel’s 10.7% win rate on $599.6 million in wagers led to a state-high $64 million in gross revenue during August, but the hold was down from the 11.9% produced during the same month in 2025.
Without that single bettor to push Fanatics’ handle past $500 million like last August, the online operator’s amount wagered fell to $213.2 million. Fanatics fell short of a 9% hold, generating $18.8 million in gross revenue, but that was up nearly $3 million from last year.
BetMGM produced a solid August with a 10.5% hold on nearly $120 million in wagers, while Caesars won 9.1% of a $112.4-million handle. BetRivers also reached 10.5% on a $10.1-million handle, and theScore Bet and Bally Bet fell just shy of double-digit holds.
September to forget?
New York operators can expect to see a significant month-over-month handle bump in September with the start of the NFL and college football seasons. The week ending Sept. 6 generated a $483.3-million handle, a 15% week-over-week increase during college football’s first big slate.
However, dollars wagered were down 13.4% from last year's Week 1. Online operators posted a 9.3% hold, generating $44.8 million in gross revenue, down from $66.6 million during last year's Labor Day week.
Marketing and data firm H2 Gambling Capital named the Empire State as a market to watch this football season to see if prediction markets will affect the jurisdiction’s handle. H2 predicts the first nationwide sports betting drop-off during an NFL season yet, with $31.4 billion being down 0.8% from the previous year.
Last year, New York’s online sportsbooks generated $2.23 billion in wagers during the first full month of football, a 10% year-over-year increase.
