New York's National Sports Betting Dominance Continues
Ever since the first online sports bet was made in New York in January 2022, it was easy to anticipate that the state would grab the national lead in the amount wagered each month.
After all, California and Texas - the two largest states in terms of population - have yet to authorize sports betting, while No. 3 Florida allows the gambling only as a monopoly run privately by the Seminole Tribe.
So No. 4 New York would have the edge, but there are five sports betting states with at least half as many residents.
Could New York do more than double the betting handle of other states?
The answer is an unequivocal "YES" in regards tostates such as Ohio and North Carolina. And while Illinois typically does attract at least half of the betting total of New York, the latter state's residents wager more capita every month.
While only partial returns are in place so far for state sports betting handles in March 2026, the usual trend is continuing.
In February, New Yorkers and visitors wagered $2.01 billion on sports bets, while Illinois was second at $1.17 billion. That pair of "billion" milestones are met in the majority of calendar months by each state.
No. 3 New Jersey - which is only 11th in population - has settled comfortably into that spot for years, but it may or may not reach $1 billion in wagers in a given month. For instance, in 28-day February, the handle there was $846.4 million before climbing back over $1 billion in March.
Ohio usually outpaces other states for the 4th-highest monthly betting handle, though the edge in February was only $767.9 million to its competitor’s $760.4 million.
The rest of the top 10 fluctuates from month to month among states like Massachusetts, Nevada (in spite of not authorizing runaway national market share leaders like FanDuel to do business in the state), Virginia, and North Carolina. In February, those five states' betting handle ranged narrowly from $619 million down to $575 million.
Read More
New York has an even larger tax revenue edge
The whopping 51% sports betting revenue tax rate in New York - the highest in the U.S. in states with a competitive marketplace - meant that the state took in a remarkable $1.2 billion in tax dollars in 2025.
Illinois, which also has a high tax rate of 40% for the larger sportsbooks, was a distant second at $429 million. The other dozens of sports betting states combined to take in only half of the combined total for New York and Illinois.
While it's quite possible that a smaller state than New York could see an exodus of its sportsbooks if it imposed that 51% tax rate, it's also clear that states that don't tax at least the national average of approximately 20% are leaving millions of dollars on the table annually.
New Jersey in mid-2025 joined Illinois and Ohio (which jumped from 10% to 20%) in significantly raising their sportsbook revenue tax from 13% to 19.75%, and others may follow suit in the coming years.
The most logical states to boost their tax rates at least to the national average would seem to be Colorado, Indiana, and Iowa, among other states.
As for California and Texas, political infighting in both states makes it seem unlikely sports betting would launch until 2029 at the earliest. And until that time, no state will be able to produce anywhere near the betting handle and sportsbook tax revenue that New York claims every month.
Taxes paid by leading NY sportsbooks in March 2026
In New York in March 2026, the leading sportsbook (FanDuel) paid $46.5 million in taxes, with the next in line trailing at $39.5 million. Third place had an odd "hold rate" of just 5.2% of gamblers' money for the month, about half that of the top twol - paid the third-highest tax amount at $8 million.
Fourth place ($7.2 million) and fifth place ($6 million) paid more than twice as much in New York taxes as the next three marketplace trailers.
