KEY TAKEAWAYS
CONTENTS
Key Findings: Sports Betting Hold in Five States
How much of every dollar bet on sports do sportsbooks keep? WagerFacts’ analysis of calendar year 2025 regulator reports from five state markets shows that the answer depends heavily on the state — and on how each state defines revenue. In the three states that publish exact annual handle and revenue, hold fell in a narrow band: 9.43% to 9.70%.
New York’s mobile market was highest at 9.70%, followed by New Jersey at 9.62% and Illinois at 9.43%. Together, the three markets kept $5.20 billion from $54.16 billion in wagers, a combined hold of 9.60%.
Pennsylvania and Michigan publish their 2025 handle only rounded to the nearest $0.1 billion, so their hold is shown as a range. This analysis combines figures from five state regulators, recalculates hold on a consistent formula, adds a month-by-month look at New York and documents every definitional difference. Data as of November 2026.
What Hold Means and Why State Definitions Differ
Hold is the share of the amount wagered that sportsbooks keep after paying winners. In this analysis it is calculated the same way for every state:
where:
reported revenue = the sports wagering revenue measure each regulator publishes for calendar 2025
reported handle = the total amount wagered the same regulator reports for the same period
The formula is consistent, but the inputs are not identical. Each regulator uses its own revenue definition:
- New York — mobile sports wagering gross gaming revenue (GGR), reported on a cash basis: wagers on future events count as current revenue and winning payouts are recognized when redeemed. Retail sportsbooks are not included.
- New Jersey — sports wagering gross revenue for casinos, racetracks and their partners, retail and online. Its year-to-date handle includes wagers on future events.
- Illinois — statewide adjusted gross receipts (AGR), in-person and online.
- Pennsylvania — sports wagering revenue, retail and online, as reported by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
- Michigan — internet sports betting gross receipts and adjusted gross receipts, online only.
Because of these differences, the ranking describes reported figures, not a like-for-like measure of sportsbook margins.
Sports Betting Hold by State: 2025 Results
The first table covers the three states with exact annual figures. New York accounted for 48.5% of the combined handle, so it weighs most in the combined rate.
| State (revenue measure) | Handle | Revenue | Hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York (mobile GGR) | $26,275,491,294 | $2,548,318,181 | 9.70% |
| New Jersey (gross revenue) | $12,234,989,128 | $1,177,166,130 | 9.62% |
| Illinois (AGR) | $15,652,028,934 | $1,476,523,893 | 9.43% |
| Three states combined | $54,162,509,356 | $5,202,008,204 | 9.60% |
The combined 9.60% is total revenue divided by total handle. A simple average of the three state rates would give 9.58% — close here, but the method matters when states differ more in size.
| State (revenue measure) | Handle (as published) | Revenue | Hold (range) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania (revenue, retail + online) | $8.8 billion | $602,495,582 | 6.81%–6.89% |
| Michigan (online gross receipts) | $5.4 billion | $671.3 million | 12.32%–12.55% |
| Michigan (online adjusted gross receipts) | $5.4 billion | $435,896,332 | 8.00%–8.15% |
Pennsylvania’s figure is the clear outlier at roughly 6.8%, roughly 2.5 to 2.9 percentage points below the three exact-figure states. Michigan shows how much definitions matter: its gross receipts imply about 12.4%, its adjusted receipts about 8.1%.
Sportsbook Hold Percentage Month by Month: New York
Annual hold hides large monthly swings, because results depend on game outcomes. New York publishes monthly mobile handle and GGR, which allows a month-by-month view of 2025.
| Month | Handle | GGR | Hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | $2,480,723,678 | $247,046,629 | 9.96% |
| Feb | $1,975,603,982 | $184,812,648 | 9.35% |
| Mar | $2,439,979,634 | $161,828,221 | 6.63% |
| Apr | $2,153,262,045 | $192,705,547 | 8.95% |
| May | $2,211,676,705 | $248,906,754 | 11.25% |
| Jun | $1,649,539,166 | $206,510,168 | 12.52% |
| Jul | $1,401,341,092 | $155,560,835 | 11.10% |
| Aug | $2,044,463,754 | $178,210,439 | 8.72% |
| Sep | $2,287,762,266 | $193,756,855 | 8.47% |
| Oct | $2,642,692,499 | $238,745,749 | 9.03% |
| Nov | $2,606,597,963 | $280,556,234 | 10.76% |
| Dec | $2,381,848,510 | $259,678,102 | 10.90% |
Monthly hold ranged from 6.63% in March to 12.52% in June, a spread of 5.89 percentage points. The median month was 9.66%, and the standard deviation of the twelve monthly rates was 1.52 points. October was the biggest handle month ($2.64 billion, 10.1% of the year) and July the smallest ($1.40 billion, 5.3%).
2025 vs. 2024 and Other Ways to Measure Hold
Two states allow a year-over-year check on the same basis. Illinois hold rose from 8.80% in 2024 to 9.43% in 2025, a gain of 0.63 percentage points (AGR of $1,233,050,505 on handle of $14,012,948,436 in 2024). Pennsylvania’s revenue of $510,716,858 on handle published as $8.4 billion implies about 6.0%–6.1% in 2024, against 6.8%–6.9% in 2025.
New Jersey offers a second view. Its regulator also reports win on completed events only: $1,162,631,399 on $12,245,855,984, or 9.5%, close to the 9.62% calculated from total handle and gross revenue. The DGE notes that year-to-date figures may not reconcile because of amendments.
Bet mix also moves hold. In New Jersey’s completed-events data, parlays held 19.2% on $3.94 billion of handle, while single-sport categories held 3.8% (basketball) to 6.2% (other sports). Differences in bet mix between states may therefore affect state-level hold; this analysis does not measure bet mix across all five states.
Methodology & Limitations
Question. What share of sports wagering handle did sportsbooks retain as revenue in calendar year 2025, by state, using each regulator’s own published figures?
Datasets. New York State Gaming Commission, statewide monthly mobile sports wagering report (fiscal years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026); New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, December 2025 revenue release and statistical summary (January 16, 2026); Illinois Gaming Board, 2025 and 2024 Annual Reports; Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, 2025 year-end revenue release (January 21, 2026); Michigan Gaming Control Board, December 2025 revenue release (January 21, 2026) and 2025 Annual Report. All accessed November 2026.
Steps to reproduce. (1) New York: sum handle and GGR for January–March 2025 from the fiscal 2024/2025 table and April–December 2025 from the fiscal 2025/2026 table. (2) New Jersey: use year-to-date December 2025 total handle and sports wagering gross revenue. (3) Illinois: total handle is the sum of in-person and online handle for professional sports, college sports, motor races and other events in the IGB annual report; revenue is statewide AGR. (4) Pennsylvania and Michigan: compute hold at the published handle and at ±$0.05 billion to show the range implied by rounding. (5) Hold = revenue ÷ handle × 100. Combined hold = sum of revenue ÷ sum of handle. Monthly statistics use the twelve New York monthly rates; the standard deviation is the population standard deviation.
Limitations. Revenue definitions differ (GGR, gross revenue, AGR, gross receipts), so the ranking compares reported figures, not identical measures. New York and Michigan cover online wagering only. New York reports on a cash basis, which shifts futures revenue between periods. Annual hold reflects game outcomes as well as pricing, so one year is not a structural measure. Figures may be revised by the regulators.
Key Figures at a Glance
The main results of this analysis, with their period and source, are collected below.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| New York mobile hold | 9.70% | NYSGC |
| New Jersey hold | 9.62% | NJ DGE |
| Illinois hold | 9.43% | IGB |
| Combined hold, three states | 9.60% | Calculated |
| Pennsylvania hold (range) | 6.81%–6.89% | PGCB |
| Michigan online hold, gross receipts (range) | 12.32%–12.55% | MGCB |
| New York monthly hold range | 6.63%–12.52% | NYSGC |
Related Data
The national total is in U.S. sports betting handle and revenue for 2025. Two of the states are profiled in detail: Illinois sports betting handle and revenue and New York mobile sports betting data by month. For the wider picture in two more states, see New Jersey gambling revenue and taxes and Pennsylvania gambling revenue by type.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources & References
- New York State Gaming Commission — Monthly Mobile Sports Wagering Report, Statewide, fiscal years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 (accessed November 2026)
- New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement — December 2025 Gaming Revenue Results and statistics, calendar year 2025 (accessed November 2026)
- Illinois Gaming Board — 2025 Annual Report, calendar year 2025 (accessed November 2026)
- Illinois Gaming Board — 2024 Annual Report, calendar year 2024 (accessed November 2026)
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board — PGCB Reports Record Gaming Revenue for 2025, January 21, 2026 (accessed November 2026)
- Michigan Gaming Control Board — December 2025 iGaming and sports betting revenue, calendar year 2025 totals (accessed November 2026)
- Michigan Gaming Control Board — 2025 Annual Report, calendar year 2025 (accessed November 2026)
