Thar she bet!
Maybe.
The possible appearance of a VIP bettor, commonly called a “whale” in gambling parlance, could have been the key component of New York’s mobile sports betting handle surpassing $2 billion in August according to monthly figures released Thursday by the New York State Gaming Commission.
This supposed bettor, who has impacted handle totals in both New York and New Jersey in recent years, helped put Fanatics’ monthly action on par with titans FanDuel and DraftKings in the Empire State. Fanatics posted $565.8 million handle for August, more than double its previous monthly high of $207.5 million established in March. It accepted $506 million worth of wagers from Aug. 11-31 per weekly NYSGC updates.
The $2.04 billion in online wagers represented a 42.4% surge compared to August 2024. It was the 11th time monthly mobile handle surpassed $2 billion in the Empire State, with the figure sneaking into the bottom of that Top 10 list.
Revenue increased 42.6% to $178.2 million as the 8.7% collective hold among the eight operators was practically flat compared to 12 months ago. The state collected $90.9 million in tax revenue, pushing the Fiscal Year 2026 total past $500 million through the first four months.
All that action, but…
Fanatics attained a 27.7% market share — edging FanDuel for second — compared to 6.5% a year ago as handle skyrocketed 507.9%. But because the bettor or bettors looked to be largely successful, it finished with a 2.8% hold in claiming $16.1 million in revenue.
That was an increase of 89.5% and ranks third all-time behind May ($18 million) and June ($17.3 million). Fanatics finished with a 3.5% hold over the final three weeks of the month, salvaging some pride with a record weekly haul of $14.8 million Aug. 25-31 that resulted in a 10.2% win rate.
The other seven mobile sportsbooks maintained the summer-long, nationwide status quo of hammering the betting public, combining for a near-11% hold in winning $162.1 million from $1.48 billion wagered.
Despite the unexpected third-place finish for handle at $561.9 million and its first sub-30% market share in New York, FanDuel still emerged as the top revenue generator at $66.9 million on the strength of an 11.9% hold. That was its lowest hold over the last four months and slightly better than its 11.6% win rate for the year.
DraftKings also ran its streak of double-digit holds to four months, reaching 10.8% for August in claiming $62.3 million from a state-best $579.6 million worth of wagers. That also pushed DraftKings’ total handle in New York above $25 billion, with $5.68 billion coming this year.
Rounding out the picture
BetMGM completed the top half of the leaderboard for both revenue and handle, crafting a 10.6% hold in reporting $13.8 million in revenue from $130.4 million handle. Caesars easily rounded out the top five with $10.7 million in winnings from $113.5 million handle, good for a 9.4% win rate.
ESPN BET entered what could be a make-or-break NFL season in the largest U.S. market behind BetRivers and ranking seventh for revenue ($3.6 million) and handle ($40.8 million). The Rush Street Interactive sportsbook had a 9.7% hold in winning nearly $4 million from $40.8 million worth of accepted wagers.
Bally’s completed the octet with $839,400 in revenue from $11.7 million handle, and had the lowest hold outside Fanatics at 7.2%.
