New York’s online sports betting handle fell 15.2% year over year in August to $1.73 billion, according to data from the New York State Gaming Commission.
Gross gaming revenue for the state’s eight licensed operators dropped 5.4% year over year to $168.5 million.
The August figures also declined from July 2026, when operators generated $1.88 billion in handle and more than $214 million in gross gaming revenue — a 7.8% drop in handle and a 21.4% drop in gross gaming revenue month over month.
Compared with August 2025, when the market produced $2.04 billion in handle and $178.2 million in gross gaming revenue, this year’s totals moved lower on both counts.
Since the state’s fiscal year began in April, New York’s online sportsbooks have generated $10.2 billion in handle and $947.9 million in gross gaming revenue. The commission’s report did not break out which operators drove the monthly totals.
A lighter sports calendar plays a role
August marked the market’s first year-over-year decline since May. The Knicks and the World Cup had kept wagering dollars elevated during June and July, while last August benefited from the first full Saturday of college football.
This year’s slate relied instead on MLB, NFL preseason games and college football’s Week Zero to drive activity. It remains unclear how much, if any, of the decline can be tied to the growth of prediction markets.
A single bettor who wagered hundreds of millions of dollars through Fanatics also inflated last year’s numbers. Without that activity, Fanatics’ handle would have fallen 60% year over year.
Operators post mixed results
DraftKings led the market in dollars wagered for a second straight month, with a 9.2% hold on $614 million in handle producing $56.3 million in gross gaming revenue.
FanDuel posted a state-high $64 million in gross gaming revenue on a 10.7% hold from $599.6 million in wagers, though that hold was down from 11.9% in August 2025.
Fanatics’ handle fell to $213.2 million without last year’s large single wager. The operator’s hold came in below 9%, and it generated $18.8 million in gross gaming revenue — up nearly $3 million from a year earlier.
BetMGM produced a 10.5% hold on nearly $120 million in wagers, and Caesars won 9.1% of a $112.4 million handle.
BetRivers also reached a 10.5% hold on $10.1 million in wagers, while theScore Bet and Bally Bet each fell just short of a double-digit hold.
Operators collectively posted a 9.7% hold for the month, up roughly one percentage point from August 2025. That figure ranks as the second-lowest monthly gross gaming revenue total of 2026, though weekly revenue still topped $30 million in every week of August for a second consecutive year.
Tax revenue continues to climb
New York collected $85.9 million in tax revenue from operators in August under the state’s 51% tax rate, pushing the fiscal year-to-date tax total past $810 million.
New York’s handle typically rises sharply once the NFL and college football seasons begin. The week ending September 6 generated $483.3 million in handle, a 15% increase from the prior week during college football’s first full slate of games.
That total was still down 13.4% from the same week last year. Operators posted a 9.3% hold for the week, generating $44.8 million in gross gaming revenue, compared with $66.6 million during last year’s Labor Day week.
Last year, New York’s online sportsbooks generated $2.23 billion in wagers during the first full month of football, a 10% increase from the previous year. Marketing and data firm H2 Gambling Capital has named New York a market to watch this football season for signs of how prediction markets affect handle.
The firm projects the first nationwide decline in sports betting handle during an NFL season, forecasting $31.4 billion in wagers nationally, down 0.8% from the prior year.
The New York State Gaming Commission’s next monthly report will show whether August’s slowdown was temporary or part of a longer stretch of softer wagering and revenue.