The online gambling industry has closed the books on another record-breaking year of regulated operations in the US.
In preliminary 2024 totals, licensed sportsbooks across 33 reporting markets combined to generate nearly $150 billion in handle and more than $14.2 billion in operator revenue. This report includes all published results to date and projections for months not yet reported.
Tax payments to state and local governments came to $2.90 billion, while the federal excise tax skimmed an additional $375+ million for Uncle Sam. More than 95% of all legal online sportsbooks for the year was conducted online.
Online casinos and poker sites meanwhile added another $8.36 billion in operator revenue and $2.12 billion in tax payments to the seven states that regulate them.
Many new sports betting records
Of the 33 markets that report sports betting data, 28 set new handle records for the 2024 calendar year. All 33 of them generated record revenue rooted in a sturdy 9.5% combined hold – also a record for a single year in the US.
More than half of reporting states finished 2024 with a double-digit hold, in fact, with Nevada’s 6.4% margin still the leanest of them all. A relatively sharp base of Las Vegas bettors and a comparatively limited menu of props and parlays contribute to the dynamics there.
Nationwide handle was up 23% from 2023; operator revenue grew 29% in line with the increasing margins. Each month of 2024 produced record volume for that month, and October was the only one in which gross revenue failed to surpass last year’s benchmark.
New York sports betting leads the way
New York is by far the largest betting market in the country, poised to overtake New Jersey on the lifetime leaderboard right as the calendar ticks over to 2025. Both have generated close to $60 billion in total wagers since launch, though New York’s industry didn’t come online until 2022, years after NJ launched.
More than $22.5 billion flowed through the New York sports betting economy in 2024 alone, an 18% increase over 2023 to yield $2.11 billion in operator revenue (+24%) and more than $1 billion in state taxes. It is now, for all intents and purposes, twice as large as any other market in the country. Over one third of all sports betting tax revenue in the country comes from the Empire State via its draconian 51% rate on gross revenue.
Only legalization in California or Texas would threaten New York’s position as the biggest legal US market on a month-to-month basis.
Illinois, New Jersey on the podium
Illinois and New Jersey are similar in size, but Illinois managed to snag the silver medal for 2024. After moving into that second spot with the April report, it did not relinquish its position for the rest of the year. Illinois finishes with $13.9 billion in handle (+20%) and $1.20 billion in revenue (+19%), good for second place in both columns.
New Jersey had a fine year in its own right, reporting $12.8 billion in handle (+7.3%) and $1.15 billion in revenue (+14%). Underlying growth at this stage is impressive for a geographically challenged market in its sixth year of operation, and its position on the national podium is under no immediate threat.
Together with New York, these three markets are the only ones that produced more than $10 billion in wagers and $1 billion in revenue for 2024. Behind them sit Ohio and Pennsylvania, which leaves Nevada outside the top five for the first time in its history. Nevada is one of only three states that endured a year-over-year downturn in handle.
Six markets remain unaccounted for in these preliminary numbers, most notably the lucrative tribal operation in Florida. True totals are slightly higher in a number of other jurisdictions also due to unreported tribal sports betting revenue. Official 2024 totals for all markets will be finalized in late Q1 2025.
Click to expand 2024 totals
| Market | Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $22,655,785,990 | $2,107,456,262 | 9.3% | $1,072,376,830 |
| Illinois | $13,883,171,636 | $1,203,348,816 | 8.7% | $240,822,626 |
| New Jersey | $12,847,365,690 | $1,146,857,532 | 8.9% | $162,213,236 |
| Ohio | $8,793,443,465 | $943,620,392 | 10.7% | $189,490,281 |
| Pennsylvania | $8,442,741,422 | $819,743,696 | 9.7% | $197,368,181 |
| Nevada | $7,937,190,868 | $508,600,223 | 6.4% | $34,330,515 |
| Arizona | $7,656,681,639 | $726,931,250 | 9.5% | $45,298,943 |
| Massachusetts | $7,423,052,860 | $686,278,011 | 9.2% | $133,102,917 |
| Virginia | $6,840,353,445 | $691,590,986 | 10.1% | $92,654,093 |
| Colorado | $6,221,372,800 | $500,199,817 | 8.0% | $34,195,366 |
| Maryland | $6,006,477,535 | $668,335,541 | 11.1% | $85,831,813 |
| Michigan | $5,489,870,019 | $504,647,297 | 9.2% | $23,512,645 |
| North Carolina | $5,448,568,282 | $627,372,549 | 11.5% | $103,476,630 |
| Tennessee | $5,283,446,500 | $528,344,650 | 10.0% | $97,427,676 |
| Indiana | $5,245,594,061 | $513,662,559 | 9.8% | $48,808,977 |
| Louisiana | $3,786,918,298 | $494,355,882 | 13.1% | $67,090,425 |
| Iowa | $2,765,369,667 | $229,064,761 | 8.3% | $15,480,918 |
| Kentucky | $2,702,341,613 | $298,513,141 | 11.0% | $41,339,332 |
| Kansas | $2,598,273,819 | $229,194,598 | 8.8% | $13,495,279 |
| Connecticut | $2,179,862,203 | $243,784,636 | 11.2% | $27,136,308 |
| Oregon | $864,095,413 | $98,899,474 | 11.4% | $49,449,737 |
| New Hampshire | $788,846,786 | $79,306,014 | 10.1% | $34,990,877 |
| Arkansas | $563,237,430 | $53,125,390 | 9.4% | $7,830,998 |
| Maine | $534,227,012 | $56,509,209 | 10.6% | $5,849,814 |
| West Virginia | $496,676,637 | $57,431,746 | 11.6% | $5,743,175 |
| Rhode Island | $434,890,343 | $35,775,940 | 8.2% | $18,245,730 |
| District of Columbia | $466,423,053 | $58,501,853 | 12.5% | $18,150,286 |
| Mississippi | $465,686,222 | $46,640,626 | 10.0% | $5,596,875 |
| Delaware | $209,596,228 | $18,142,962 | 8.7% | $10,855,193 |
| Wyoming | $206,504,560 | $24,609,811 | 11.9% | $1,542,737 |
| Vermont | $183,810,124 | $21,274,929 | 11.6% | $12,277,159 |
| Montana | $68,095,079 | $7,981,919 | 11.7% | $703,446 |
| South Dakota | $9,334,727 | $908,005 | 9.7% | $81,720 |
| TOTAL | $149,499,305,424 | $14,231,010,477 | 9.5% | $2,896,770,738 |
Biggest movers in 2024
Some markets modified their sports betting implementation in 2024 and therefore changed their trajectory over the course of the year.
The addition of online sports betting in North Carolina in March was the biggest source of new growth, and the young market enjoyed a brisk ramp-up into its first football season. It already competes with Colorado and Maryland for a top-10 spot on the monthly charts, finishing the year with $5.45 billion in total wagers (#13) and $627 million in gross operator revenue (#10) despite the late launch.
Our nation’s capital also improved its plight in the middle of 2024. Online sports betting became available throughout the District of Columbia in July, dissolving the ill-conceived Intralot monopoly and injecting new competitive fuel into a market that was barely flickering. Data from the second half of the year paints a much more optimistic picture for the District headed into 2025.
Something similar can be said for Delaware, which added online sports betting via a new partnership with Rush Street Interactive and its BetRivers brand at the tail end of 2023. Local handle tripled in 2024 as the small state finally joined the modern era of sports betting more than five years after it opened the post-PASPA floodgates.
2024 sports betting per-capita notes
It is useful to run the numbers against population data to get a truer sense of which markets really thrived in 2024.
Nevada is still in a class of one, with its retail-centric industry dependent on gambling tourism from non-resident visitors. It was one of seven states that generated per-capita handle in excess of $1,000 in 2024, along with New Jersey ($1,352), New York ($1,140), Illinois ($1,092), Colorado ($1,044), Massachusetts ($1,040), and Arizona ($1,010).
Four states outside of Nevada meanwhile produced per-capita revenue in excess of $100: New Jersey ($121), Louisiana ($108), Maryland ($107), and New York ($106).
The two markets with the most limited sports betting implementation – Montana and South Dakota – prop up the bottom of the table with per-capita handle under $100 and per-capita revenue under $20.
Across all reporting markets, total per-capita handle and revenue came to $824 and $78 respectively.
FanDuel, DraftKings lead the way
At the brand level, it is still a two-horse race out front.
FanDuel and DraftKings remain the overwhelming market leaders, together accounting for more than 65% of the industry’s output nationwide. The success of these two brands traces back to their co-domination of the daily fantasy sports space and their knack for converting those DFS players into sports bettors, while their best-in-class products have allowed them to retain those customers even as the competitive landscape has expanded to include the country’s largest gambling companies.
FanDuel is the top brand with a national market share around 40% all by itself. Over the course of the year, FanDuel generated $5.78 billion in gross revenue (41% share) on $50.7 billion in total wagers (34%) from the 23 markets it serves.
DraftKings is just a length behind, generating $4.67 billion in revenue (33%) from $49.4 billion in wagers (34%) across its industry-leading 26 markets. In addition to every FanDuel territory, DraftKings is also active in Maine, Oregon, and New Hampshire.
The other ~50 sports betting brands combined for the remaining $3.78 billion in revenue (27%) and $49.3 billion in handle (33%) in 2024, putting the field behind each of the co-leaders.
Battle for third primed for new year
The battle for bronze could be just as interesting to watch in 2025. BetMGM holds that spot for now, but the group in chase is now a few brands deep.
Part of the publicity surrounding Penn Entertainment’s rollout of its new ESPN Bet platform in late 2023 involved targeting a double-digit market share and an eventual spot on the US podium. That has not materialized to date. ESPN Bet’s share of volume peaked in fifth place last December but tapered off throughout 2024, dipping back down near the unsatisfactory level that Barstool was achieving prior to Penn’s multi-billion-dollar rebrand.
Fanatics might be the most likely disruptor at this point, having quickly carved out a corner of the market for itself despite missing the first five years of foundational growth. It nearly overtook for third place during the promotional blitz surrounding its transition from PointsBet in the spring, and recent trends show it climbing back into contention once again over the course of the current football season.
Like FanDuel and Caesars, Fanatics is active in 23 US markets – one more than BetMGM. Relevant brand-level data from November and December is still pending.
Online casinos make headlines in 2024
Online casino gambling continues to drive even more revenue than its sports betting counterpart in the small group of states that allow it. Reporting in Delaware is incomplete and Rhode Island only had a partial year of online casino revenue, but the breakdown for the other five is striking.
More than two thirds of New Jersey‘s online gambling revenue comes from iGaming, and its balance is closer to the center than most. Michigan and West Virginia both rely on casino games to generate well over 80% of their total online gambling revenue and an even larger share of their related tax revenue.
As is the case for sports betting, FanDuel and DraftKings are the market leaders of the online casino segment.
What else to watch in 2025
We navigate into the new year through fairly calm seas, but the potential for stormy weather still lurks beyond the horizon.
Around a dozen brands reduced their US footprint or folded up shop entirely in 2024 in an effort to stem losses and preserve their broader business, including large operations like Betway, Betfred, Unibet, and WynnBet. How much of this market consolidation will carry over into 2025? How much more competition will be removed from the marketplace, and to what effect?
The chance for significant, industry-wide disruption in one form or another is also a major taking point entering the new year. Perhaps another sports betting scandal or another critical news story will light enough of a fire under Congress to take a serious look at imposing federal regulations.
Or maybe this is the year where a true outsider finds a way into the game, one with major resources to devote to a differentiated offering. Think: Robinhood. Could cryptocurrency find a bigger foothold in the industry? Apart from product improvements, what will be the key driver of new growth?
The smart money says not much will change overall, though. Expect to see another record year on the revenue reports no matter which app or currency folks are using to bet, and expect to see FanDuel and DraftKings once again holding down the top of the charts when we get to the end of 2025.
