The house won big during the second quarter of 2025, with “sportsbook-friendly outcomes” boosting the results of operators like DraftKings and FanDuel. It looks like the Masters and the NBA playoffs were some of the biggest contributors to the sportsbooks’ bumper margins.
There’s no doubt that margins have been unusually strong across the betting industry in recent months. Casino Reports analysis shows June’s 10.6% hold rate is the highest since the site started tracking sports betting revenue.
FanDuel parent company Flutter Entertainment said it made $90 million during the second quarter of the year from favorable sports results. That came despite a bad April, when a chalky NCAA Basketball Tournament hit sportsbooks’ revenue.
Looking just at May and June, Flutter said it made $140 million in revenue from sporting results. June in particular was a record month for FanDuel, as it reported a best-ever 16.3% hold percentage. Alongside favorable results, the continued move towards parlays – which are typically higher-margin – helped FanDuel.
Meanwhile, DraftKings said “sportsbook-friendly outcomes” were worth $110 million in revenue in May and June, again reversing fortunes after a tough April. Hold percentage for the quarter hit 11.5%.
But what were those favorable results?
NBA and Masters boost FanDuel
Flutter listed a few outcomes that it said were particularly important in boosting its margins for the quarter.
The NBA Finals matchup between two relatively small-market teams — the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder — helped sportsbooks’ bottom lines. Flutter said that bettors put money on the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, who went out in the first two rounds of the playoffs, as well as the New York Knicks, who were defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Masters, won by Rory McIlroy to complete a career grand slam, was another lucrative event for FanDuel. Flutter said that while many of its customers in the UK and Ireland won big when McIlroy put on the green jacket, at FanDuel the money was mostly on the leading Americans such as Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. Overall – even counting the British and Irish money – Flutter said that McIlroy’s win “saved us millions.”
FanDuel also noted a high level of activity across the French Open in tennis, including both the men’s and women’s finals, though the victories of Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff were unlikely to have been particular favorable results for the book.
How will NFL season go?
Ultimately, the most significant outcomes of the year for sportsbooks will be the NFL season. Here, the house will be hoping for a reversal of recent years’ fortunes. In both 2023 and 2024, the results have gone the way of bettors, preventing sportsbooks from hitting their maximum profit potential during the biggest months of the year.
Last year, Flutter said it took a $390 million hit from unfavorable NFL results, with the more-heavily-backed team winning 77% of the time, while favorites won at their highest rate for 20 years.
If results go FanDuel’s way during the NFL season, it’s likely that the market-leading operator will take in well over $2 billion in revenue during the final three months of the year.
For more information on sportsbook revenue and hold rates, InGame Intel provides the latest sports betting handle, revenue, and taxation figures from each state regulatory agency.
