New York Online Sports Betting Handle Hits $1.9 Billion in July as Tight Hold Boosts State Tax Revenue

New York’s online sportsbooks just turned in their best month in state history. The New York State Gaming Commission reported that the state’s eight licensed mobile operators generated $214.4 million in gross gaming revenue during July, a jump of 37.8% over June, as a tighter hold rate helped books recover from a brutal stretch of bettor-friendly outcomes.

Bettors in the Empire State wagered $1.88 billion online in July, actually less than the $2.26 billion handled in June, but operators kept far more of it. The hold rate more than doubled, climbing to 11.4% from just 5.19% the month before, when a wave of favorites and underdogs alike cashed tickets across the board.

DraftKings and FanDuel Lead a Crowded Field

DraftKings paced the market with $661.5 million in handle, translating to a 10.3% hold and $72.9 million in revenue. FanDuel wasn’t far behind on volume, taking in $651.2 million in wagers and turning a hold near 13.2% into $86.1 million in revenue, the largest win total of any operator in the state for the month.

Fanatics Sportsbook posted $221.6 million in handle and $21.1 million in revenue, while BetMGM ($138.3 million handle, $15.6 million revenue) and Caesars ($122.6 million handle, $11.4 million revenue) rounded out the mid-tier operators. theScore Bet ran the leanest margins of the group, holding just 8% on $30.8 million in handle for $2.5 million in revenue, a reminder that even in a record month, not every book gets the same bounce.

A 51% Tax Rate Means Big Swings for the State

New York taxes mobile sports betting revenue at 51%, the highest rate in the country alongside New Hampshire, which means every swing in hold gets amplified for state coffers. July’s rebound pushed tax collections to roughly $109.3 million, up from $59.7 million in June, a nearly $50 million turnaround in a single month.

That haul lifted New York’s year-to-date sports betting tax revenue past $725 million, keeping the state on pace to challenge or exceed the $1.32 billion it collected across all of 2025. Most of that money is earmarked for education funding, with additional allocations supporting youth sports programs and problem gambling treatment.

Why Hold Rates Swing So Much

The July numbers underscore just how volatile monthly hold rates can be for sportsbooks, even in a mature market like New York’s. June’s 5.19% hold reflected a stretch where favorites and popular parlays cashed at an unusually high rate, squeezing operator margins. July flipped that script, aided in part by results breaking in the house’s favor during the tail end of soccer’s World Cup window and a return to more normal outcomes across the major U.S. sports calendar.

For bettors shopping sportsbook reviews and lines across operators, months like July are a useful reminder that no single book consistently offers the best number, and that hold rate swings say more about which side of the board won than about any structural change in the market. New York remains one of the most competitive mobile betting markets in the country, and comparing live odds across books is still the simplest way to find value regardless of which way a given month’s hold rate breaks.

What Comes Next

With football season approaching, operators and the state alike will be watching whether July’s tighter margins carry into the fall, when handle typically spikes alongside NFL and college football volume. If hold rates hold steady in the double digits through the season, New York’s tax revenue could accelerate well past last year’s pace, reinforcing the state’s position as the largest legal mobile sports betting market in the country by tax collections.