Legal Sports Betting Revenue Tracker

The conversation surrounding legal sports betting revenue is frustratingly ambiguous and it can sometimes be tough to discern whether someone is talking about sportsbooks’ revenue or the state’s tax revenue from sports betting operations. This revenue tracker offers a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to learn more about the state-level economics of sports betting. It also covers some basic concepts of the economics of sports wagering, including the difference between revenue and handle as well as a book’s hold percentage.

Many states that have legalized sports betting release monthly data on their overall handle and revenue. Besides tracking the total volume of money bet on sports in the United States, this page has data on both the hold percentage and tax contributions of each state’s sports betting industry. The nine states that report (NV, DE, IA, IN, NJ, MS, PA, RI, WV) each have different methods for accumulating and distributing data, but this page consolidates and standardizes each of these states’ reports for ease of understanding. This page will be updated as needed as new reports are released and more states pass legislation legalizing sports wagering.

Sports Betting Revenue By State

There are currently 14 states that offer legal sports betting, and nine that offer comprehensive financial reports detailing their total handle, gross revenue, taxable incomes, etc. Each of these states is at a different stage of development after legalizing sports wagering, and they are each beholden to different sets of state laws and other variances that make direct comparative analysis difficult, but this page should provide a strong overview of both the trajectory and size of the industry in each state.

Nevada Sports Betting Revenue

Nevada Sports Betting Revenue - 2018 was a record year for NV, with the state hauling in over $20.25 million on $300 million in sportsbook revenue. The total handle was just over $5 billion. On a per-month basis, Nevada books make about $25 million, though the average is skewed by the gambling-heavy NFL season. Because NV taxes sportsbooks at 6.75%, this translates to monthly tax contributions well above $1.75 million. Nevada puts its gaming revenue towards state programs, with most of the money going towards education and public health initiatives. Nevada bettors use legal domestic Internet sportsbooks to place more than 60% of the wagers taken in the state.

Nevada	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Dec 2019	$571,179,245	$36,327,000	6.36%	$2,452,073
Nov 2019	$614,118,812	$31,013,000	5.05%	$2,093,378
Oct 2019	$543,552,781	$47,887,000	8.81%	$3,232,373
Sep 2019	$546,358,867	$52,068,000	9.53%	$3,514,590
Aug 2019	$287,757,296	$18,733,000	6.51%	$1,264,478
Jul 2019	$235,659,955	$10,534,000	4.47%	$711,045
Jun 2019	$322,077,670	$16,587,000	5.15%	$1,119,623
May 2019	$317,380,282	$11,267,000	3.55%	$760,523
Apr 2019	$328,121,212	$21,656,000	6.6%	$1,461,780
Mar 2019	$596,752,294	$32,523,000	5.45%	$2,195,303
Feb 2019	$458,591,549	$35,816,000	7.81%	$2,417,580
Jan 2019	$497,482,993	$14,626,000	2.94%	$987,255
Dec 2018	$561,859,873	$44,106,000	7.85%	$2,977,155
Nov 2018	$581,070,664	$27,136,000	4.67%	$1,831,680
Oct 2018	$528,568,873	$29,547,000	5.59%	$1,994,423
Sep 2018	$571,034,483	$56,304,000	9.86%	$3,800,520
Aug 2018	$247,622,790	$12,604,000	5.09%	$850,770
Jul 2018	$244,638,554	$4,061,000	1.66%	$274,118
Jun 2018	$286,548,295	$20,173,000	7.04%	$1,361,678
Since PASPA Repeal*	$8,340,376,488	$522,968,000	6.27%	$35,300,340
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0

Delaware Sports Betting Revenue

Delaware Sports Betting Revenue - Delaware opened its doors to legal sports betting in June 2018, and since the entire sports wagering industry is state-run (helmed by the DE Lottery), the state gets 50% of the revenue. It allocates the funds various, non-specific “state budget” considerations while meting out the remainder to its sportsbook and lottery operations. Thus, even with a comparatively tiny market when viewed alongside NV, Delaware’s tax revenue on sports wagering easily clears half-a-million dollars per month. Online wagering has been approved in the state but has yet to launch. When it does, you can expect the total handle (currently averaging about $11 million per month) to steadily increase.

Delaware	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Jan 2020	$9,128,658	$1,517,187	16.62%	$758,594
Dec 2019	$13,283,636	$1,613,077	12.14%	$806,539
Nov 2019	$10,308,159	$1,372,540	13.32%	$686,270
Oct 2019	$9,621,404	$1,736,583	18.05%	$868,292
Sep 2019	$11,839,818	$2,159,643	18.24%	$1,079,822
Aug 2019	$4,419,488	$505,006	11.43%	$252,503
Jul 2019	$3,920,974	$507,410	12.94%	$253,705
Jun 2019	$6,325,464	$466,705	7.38%	$233,353
May 2019	$5,920,766	$406,293	6.86%	$203,147
Apr 2019	$6,088,183	$615,772	10.11%	$307,886
Mar 2019	$10,483,128	$1,644,164	15.68%	$822,082
Feb 2019	$8,487,867	$22,152	0.26%	$11,076
Jan 2019	$11,940,123	$1,438,357	12.05%	$719,179
Dec 2018	$16,079,670	$2,149,611	13.37%	$1,074,806
Nov 2018	$16,392,863	$1,124,979	6.86%	$562,490
Oct 2018	$14,738,223	$448,578	3.04%	$224,289
Sep 2018	$16,830,010	$3,153,529	18.74%	$1,576,765
Aug 2018	$7,721,851	$706,780	9.15%	$353,390
Jul 2018	$8,214,765	$461,226	5.61%	$230,613
Jun 2018	$7,003,725	$875,216	12.5%	$437,608
Since PASPA Repeal*	$198,748,775	$22,924,808	11.53%	$11,462,404
Year-To-Date	$9,128,658	$1,517,187	16.62%	$758,594

New Jersey Sports Betting Revenue

New Jersey Sports Betting Revenue - NJ sports betting officially opened to the public in June 2018 and quickly become the largest market alongside Nevada. New Jersey bookmakers are making about $16 million a month but the state receives varying amounts due to the sliding tax scale associated with sports betting. Land-based sportsbooks are taxed at 8.5%, online sportsbooks are taxed at 13%, and racetrack-based online books are taxed at 14.25%. Interestingly, the NJ government earmarks the majority of its sports betting tax revenue for further developing its casino and gaming industries (albeit racetrack taxes go into the New Jersey General Fund). Roughly 80% of all action occurs through online platforms, which helps the state of New Jersey bring in about $2 million per month in tax contributions.

New Jersey	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Jan 2020	$540,113,452	$53,561,626	9.92%	$4,552,738
Dec 2019	$557,786,161	$31,278,930	5.61%	$2,658,709
Nov 2019	$562,675,543	$32,895,546	5.85%	$2,796,121
Oct 2019	$487,924,504	$46,393,537	9.51%	$5,685,164
Sep 2019	$445,563,503	$37,883,375	8.5%	$4,544,361
Aug 2019	$293,594,862	$25,210,342	8.59%	$3,006,897
Jul 2019	$251,371,272	$17,884,800	7.11%	$2,146,045
Jun 2019	$273,222,975	$9,701,925	3.55%	$1,136,890
May 2019	$318,940,677	$15,536,384	4.87%	$1,937,973
Apr 2019	$313,719,562	$21,215,747	6.76%	$2,548,364
Mar 2019	$372,451,342	$31,669,387	8.5%	$3,783,605
Feb 2019	$320,368,087	$12,732,740	3.97%	$1,660,591
Jan 2019	$385,279,662	$18,777,582	4.87%	$2,295,031
Dec 2018	$319,173,548	$20,834,867	6.53%	$2,430,242
Nov 2018	$330,748,563	$21,243,865	6.42%	$2,455,824
Oct 2018	$260,711,301	$11,686,119	4.48%	$1,391,082
Sep 2018	$183,948,404	$23,775,366	12.93%	$2,586,456
Aug 2018	$95,634,048	$9,198,272	9.62%	$922,401
Jul 2018	$40,682,237	$3,845,880	9.45%	$326,900
Jun 2018	$16,409,619	$3,458,668	21.08%	$293,987
Since PASPA Repeal*	$6,370,319,322	$448,784,958	7.04%	$49,159,380
Year-To-Date	$540,113,452	$53,561,626	9.92%	$4,552,738

Mississippi Sports Betting Revenue

Mississippi Sports Betting Revenue - Mississippi has sports betting available at its commercial and tribal casinos throughout the state. Though legal, online sports betting is restricted to casino grounds only, MS casinos still make about $3 million in revenue each month. This income is taxed at 12%, with the majority of that money earmarked for the DOT’s maintenance of roads and sewers. Two-thirds of that tax goes to the state and the remaining third goes to the cities where the sportsbooks are located. Each month, the state welcomes over $200,000 in contributions while the cities receive about $100,000 as well.

Mississippi	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax	City Tax
Dec 2019	$49,076,413	$3,478,919	7.09%	$278,314	$139,157
Nov 2019	$56,369,036	$3,784,071	6.71%	$302,726	$151,363
Oct 2019	$48,019,481	$12,295,357	25.6%	$983,629	$491,814
Sep 2019	$37,870,989	$5,631,583	14.87%	$450,527	$225,263
Aug 2019	$19,876,370	$2,884,348	14.51%	$230,748	$115,374
Jul 2019	$13,383,383	$1,053,776	7.87%	$84,302	$42,151
Jun 2019	$15,190,666	$1,625,113	10.7%	$130,009	$65,005
May 2019	$17,438,291	$1,191,957	6.84%	$95,357	$47,678
Apr 2019	$19,188,763	$2,057,834	10.72%	$164,627	$82,313
Mar 2019	$32,421,264	$4,898,725	15.11%	$391,898	$195,949
Feb 2019	$25,148,134	$2,756,439	10.96%	$220,515	$110,258
Jan 2019	$35,190,773	$2,793,237	7.94%	$223,459	$111,729
Dec 2018	$41,762,048	$6,174,223	14.78%	$493,938	$246,969
Nov 2018	$44,499,883	$1,674,250	3.76%	$133,940	$66,970
Oct 2018	$32,837,333	$1,178,343	3.59%	$94,267	$47,134
Sep 2018	$31,770,269	$5,503,792	17.32%	$440,303	$220,152
Aug 2018	$6,270,127	$645,057	10.29%	$51,605	$25,802
Since PASPA Repeal*	$526,313,223	$59,627,025	11.33%	$4,770,162	$2,385,081
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0	$0

West Virginia Sports Betting Revenue

West Virginia Sports Betting Revenue - WV had an extremely slow start, with sports wagering available only at a pair of locales before finally expanding to all 5 gaming facilities. Online betting launched in December 2018 but underwent licensing problems and has been out of operation since the beginning of March 2019. With this, most of the first year’s data is rather irrelevant to the overall picture of sports betting in West Virginia. The state taxes the books’ revenue at 10%, removing 15% of that number for administrative purposes with the remaining 85% going to the state’s General Revenue Fund. This occurs once it fills up the state’s $15 million Sports Wagering Fund which helps operate the industry.

West Virginia	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Jan 2020	$35,398,396	$2,203,189	6.22%	$187,271
Dec 2019	$30,343,333	$2,322,915	7.66%	$197,448
Nov 2019	$32,968,352	$2,289,056	6.94%	$194,570
Oct 2019	$37,022,626	$3,156,830	8.53%	$268,331
Sep 2019	$25,620,077	$3,755,760	14.66%	$319,240
Aug 2019	$10,743,386	$1,527,324	14.22%	$129,823
Jul 2019	$7,764,843	$707,214	9.11%	$60,113
Jun 2019	$7,634,979	$379,228	4.97%	$32,234
May 2019	$10,704,030	$937,065	8.75%	$79,651
Apr 2019	$10,334,722	$617,746	5.98%	$52,508
Mar 2019	$13,850,999	$1,552,962	11.21%	$132,002
Feb 2019	$16,609,597	$-143,473	-0.86%	$-12,195
Jan 2019	$22,431,187	$1,460,541	6.51%	$124,146
Dec 2018	$13,332,131	$2,221,521	16.66%	$188,829
Nov 2018	$13,020,483	$1,371,803	10.54%	$116,603
Oct 2018	$12,760,994	$799,818	6.27%	$67,985
Sep 2018	$7,322,255	$2,129,235	29.08%	$180,985
Since PASPA Repeal*	$307,862,389	$27,288,734	8.86%	$2,319,542
Year-To-Date	$35,398,396	$2,203,189	6.22%	$187,271

Pennsylvania Sports Betting Revenue

Pennsylvania Sports Betting Revenue - PA sportsbooks opened in November 2018, so there isn’t any NFL data to boost their numbers. Still, the nine operational books in the state have been averaging over $3 million per month on more than $30 million in the handle. Pennsylvania taxes its sportsbooks at one the nation’s highest rate, 36%, and with the size of their market, the state is granted with about $1 million each month – the majority of which is allocated for the PA General Fund. Now that mobile betting is active and NFL betting is occurring, these numbers are expected to increase immensely.

Pennsylvania	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax	City Tax
Dec 2019	$342,560,390	$17,459,091	5.1%	$5,936,091	$349,182
Nov 2019	$316,468,265	$20,570,772	6.5%	$6,994,062	$411,415
Oct 2019	$241,186,065	$14,924,871	6.19%	$5,074,456	$298,497
Sep 2019	$194,504,622	$14,924,871	7.67%	$5,074,456	$298,497
Aug 2019	$109,038,051	$9,887,737	9.07%	$3,361,831	$197,755
Jul 2019	$59,331,959	$5,079,634	8.56%	$1,727,076	$101,593
Jun 2019	$46,334,245	$3,126,381	6.75%	$1,062,970	$62,528
May 2019	$35,934,215	$2,861,852	7.96%	$973,030	$57,237
Apr 2019	$36,769,146	$4,221,482	11.48%	$1,435,304	$84,430
Mar 2019	$44,527,574	$5,519,340	12.4%	$1,876,576	$110,387
Feb 2019	$31,500,743	$1,946,817	6.18%	$661,918	$38,936
Jan 2019	$32,011,838	$2,607,215	8.14%	$886,453	$52,144
Dec 2018	$16,173,089	$2,007,592	12.41%	$682,581	$40,152
Nov 2018	$1,414,587	$508,997	35.98%	$173,059	$10,180
Since PASPA Repeal*	$1,507,754,789	$105,646,652	7.01%	$35,919,862	$2,112,933
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0	$0

Rhode Island Sports Betting Revenue

Rhode Island Sports Betting Revenue - RI offers sports wagering at its two casino venues, Twin River and Tiverton. During the NFL season, bettors were averaging a total handle around $20 million per month once things were up and running. Right now, without online sports wagering options, the books have been averaging just shy of $1 million in revenue per month since the start of the year. The state sees 51% of that revenue earmarked for the state’s General Fund, which averaged about $500,000 per month since December of last year.

Rhode Island	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Dec 2019	$31,670,511	$2,571,755	8.12%	$1,311,595
Nov 2019	$31,465,062	$2,746,518	8.73%	$1,400,724
Oct 2019	$28,281,024	$2,457,136	8.69%	$1,253,139
Sep 2019	$22,195,789	$2,516,061	11.34%	$1,283,191
Aug 2019	$10,060,066	$851,788	8.47%	$434,412
Jul 2019	$8,321,947	$827,579	9.94%	$422,065
Jun 2019	$14,736,667	$2,149,999	14.59%	$1,096,499
May 2019	$18,900,152	$899,165	4.76%	$458,574
Apr 2019	$16,859,818	$1,970,110	11.69%	$1,004,756
Mar 2019	$23,582,716	$1,548,230	6.57%	$789,597
Feb 2019	$20,686,618	$-890,623	-4.31%	$-454,218
Jan 2019	$19,051,125	$159,978	0.84%	$81,589
Dec 2018	$13,087,999	$957,913	7.32%	$488,536
Nov 2018	$682,714	$72,997	10.69%	$37,228
Since PASPA Repeal*	$259,582,208	$18,838,606	7.26%	$9,607,689
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0

Arkansas Sports Betting Revenue

Arkansas Sports Betting Revenue - Arkansas sports betting became a legal outlet on the first day of July in 2019. Though only one venue opened at the launch, the state allows for three additional licenses to offer sports betting services. Approved by the citizens of the state, casinos would be taxed at 13% of their first $150 in sports betting revenue. After the $150 million is surpassed, casinos are then taxed at a rate of 20% for all sports betting revenue. Arkansas does not report its betting handle, winnings, or taxable contributions.

Arkansas	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Nov -0001	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Since PASPA Repeal*	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0

New York Sports Betting Revenue

New York Sports Betting Revenue - New York was able to begin offering sports betting after the residents of the state approved a measure in 2013. After years of finalizing regulations, four upstate casinos opened for business. The state also permits the tribal casinos of the state to offer any gaming option that the commercial ones do, so they also have the ability to offer legal sportsbooks. New York does post their revenue totals for the week, however, their betting handle and hold percentages are not released to the public. From their July 16, 2019 launch through September, the reporting New York sportsbooks have kept $3,461,484.

New York	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Nov -0001	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Since PASPA Repeal*	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0

Iowa Sports Betting Revenue

Iowa Sports Betting Revenue - Iowa became one of the few states that offered legal sports betting after accepting its first wagers on August 15th, 2019. A total of 19 casinos are eligible to offer sports betting but not all of them have launched books at their venues yet. Betting on both professional and collegiate sports events are permitted however, the regulations do restrict betting on player props involving college players. Sportsbooks are taxed at a rate of 6.75% in Iowa after they pay their $45,000 sports wagering licensing fee.

Iowa	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Jan 2020	$58,027,141	$3,234,794	5.57%	$218,349
Dec 2019	$59,258,838	$2,904,257	4.9%	$196,037
Nov 2019	$59,344,805	$3,599,749	6.07%	$242,983
Oct 2019	$46,500,443	$5,658,333	12.17%	$381,937
Sep 2019	$38,528,921	$4,956,347	12.86%	$334,553
Aug 2019	$8,576,246	$2,162,688	25.22%	$145,981
Since PASPA Repeal*	$270,236,394	$22,516,168	8.33%	$1,519,841
Year-To-Date	$58,027,141	$3,234,794	5.57%	$218,349

Oregon Sports Betting Revenue

Oregon Sports Betting Revenue - Oregon was always eligible to offer sports betting, as they were one of the few states grandfathered into the federal law known as PASPA. However, they have expanded their original offerings, where the state lottery operates a mobile betting platform and tribal casinos like Chinook Winds offer land-based sports betting. Like Arkansas, the state does not release its betting handle, sportsbooks’ revenue, or tax contributions.

Oregon	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Nov -0001	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Since PASPA Repeal*	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0

Indiana Sports Betting Revenue

Indiana Sports Betting Revenue - Indiana launched its sports betting operations on September 1, making them the fifth state to launch legal sports betting in 2019. A total of 13 locations are eligible to offer sports betting, but not every book is up and running in the state thus far. Sportsbooks are taxed at 9.5% of their adjusted gross receipts, or money kept after paying out the winning wagers. Though this jurisdiction is new, the ability for residents and tourists to wager from their phones helped Indiana launch on the right foot.

Indiana	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Jan 2020	$170,813,163	$12,861,014	7.53%	$1,221,796
Dec 2019	$161,808,925	$11,989,909	7.41%	$1,139,041
Nov 2019	$147,276,915	$9,298,553	6.31%	$883,363
Oct 2019	$91,697,393	$11,538,533	12.58%	$1,096,161
Sep 2019	$35,215,416	$8,558,974	24.3%	$813,103
Since PASPA Repeal*	$606,811,812	$54,246,983	8.94%	$5,153,463
Year-To-Date	$170,813,163	$12,861,014	7.53%	$1,221,796

New Mexico Sports Betting Revenue

New Mexico Sports Betting Revenue - New Mexico didn’t have to legalize sports betting, as its tribal venues are able to offer the pastime by virtue of their pre-existing Class III compacts. Currently, sports betting is only available at a handful of tribal casinos in the form of retail betting only, as online sports wagering legalization will require congressional action. Their revenue numbers are not required to be released to the public but the state roughly gets 9.3% of NM tribal earnings as part of their “revenue sharing” model.

New Mexico	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax
Nov -0001	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Since PASPA Repeal*	$0	$0	NAN%	$0
Year-To-Date	$0	$0	NAN%	$0

All States Sports Betting Revenue

Month	Handle	Revenue	Hold	State Tax	City Tax
Jan 2020	$813,480,810	$73,377,810	9.02%	$6,938,748	$0
Dec 2019	$1,816,967,452	$109,945,853	6.05%	$14,975,846	$488,339
Nov 2019	$1,830,994,949	$107,569,805	5.87%	$15,594,197	$562,778
Oct 2019	$1,533,805,721	$146,048,180	9.52%	$18,843,480	$790,312
Sep 2019	$1,357,698,003	$132,454,614	9.76%	$17,413,842	$523,761
Aug 2019	$744,065,765	$61,762,233	8.3%	$8,826,671	$313,129
Jul 2019	$579,754,333	$36,594,413	6.31%	$5,404,351	$143,744
Jun 2019	$685,522,666	$34,036,351	4.97%	$4,811,578	$127,532
May 2019	$725,218,412	$33,099,716	4.56%	$4,508,253	$104,915
Apr 2019	$731,081,406	$52,354,691	7.16%	$6,975,225	$166,743
Mar 2019	$1,094,069,317	$79,355,808	7.25%	$9,991,062	$306,336
Feb 2019	$881,392,595	$52,240,052	5.93%	$4,505,267	$149,194
Jan 2019	$1,003,387,701	$41,862,910	4.17%	$5,317,111	$163,874
Dec 2018	$981,468,358	$78,451,727	7.99%	$8,336,087	$287,121
Nov 2018	$987,829,757	$53,132,891	5.38%	$5,310,824	$77,150
Oct 2018	$849,616,724	$43,659,858	5.14%	$3,772,046	$47,134
Sep 2018	$810,905,421	$90,865,922	11.21%	$8,585,029	$220,152
Aug 2018	$357,248,816	$23,154,109	6.48%	$2,178,165	$25,802
Jul 2018	$293,535,556	$8,368,106	2.85%	$831,630	$0
Jun 2018	$309,961,639	$24,506,884	7.91%	$2,093,272	$0
Nov -0001	$0	$0	NAN%	$0	$0
Since PASPA Repeal*	$18,388,005,399	$1,282,841,934	6.98%	$155,212,684	$4,498,014
Year-To-Date	$813,480,810	$73,377,810	100%	$6,938,748	$0

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The Real Size Of The US Sports Betting Market

As revenue reports are released over time, the ability to correctly analyze the entire size of the legal US sports betting market is made much easier. The first year of operations since the PASPA repeal has given us a more defined scope, as gambling industry analysts estimated that the annual betting handle is somewhere between $200 and $400 billion. Through the first year, every licensed sportsbook (which besides New Mexico are subject to monthly reports from their states) have accumulated for a total handle of over $9 billion.

This yearly handle will be sure to increase drastically as time goes on with more states legalizing sports betting and bettors’ comfort of using in-state licensed sportsbooks over the offshore betting sites. Additionally, the expansion into mobile betting will expedite the betting handle get closer to the aforementioned estimations. In New Jersey alone, sports betting occurs over mobile devices at a rate of 4 to 1 compared to that of retail betting parlors. Once the majority of states move toward this allowance, the size of the US sports betting market will increase in every category from handle and revenue to the states’ tax revenue.

Sports Betting Tax Revenue

States are quite different in the amount of handle they receive each month. The large market states like New Jersey and Nevada easily surpass the $300 million handle milestone but this does not equate to high tax revenue. Because each state regulates its industry independently, the tax rates range immensely. For example, Nevada receives only 6.75% of their books’ sports betting revenue; however, other states like Pennsylvania tax sports betting at 36%.

Take a record month for Nevada in March 2019. The books collected over $596 million for the betting handle, keeping $32.5 million as revenue. At 6.75%, the State of Nevada received just shy of $2.2 million in tax revenue for the month. Compare that to the first month of Pennsylvania sports betting that introduced mobile sports betting – June 2019. With a handle of $46 million and $3.1 of that kept by the books, it came nowhere near Nevada’s record month. However, Pennsylvania collected over $1 million in revenue due to the fact their tax rate is over 5 times that of Nevada’s.

With a large betting market, Nevada can get away with a rate of 6.75%. Smaller markets like Rhode Island and Delaware tax their industry at 51% and 50%, respectively, and are currently the highest tax rates of the legal sports betting states. Not every state is able to tax the industry this high; however, as both of these states use their lottery as the retailer, they remove the middle man. Currently, the tax rates of the legal sports betting states that have launched are:

Nevada – 6.75%
Delaware – 50%
New Jersey – 8% (land-based), 13% (online)
Mississippi – 12%
West Virginia – 10%
Pennsylvania – 36%
Rhode Island – 51%
Arkansas – 13% (up to $150 million in sportsbook revenue), 20% ($150 million+)
New York – 8.5%

Every state allocates the money they collect into different coffers. The ones who allow horse-racing tracks to offer sports betting use a small percentage to boost the purses for the races. However, on the grand scale, the majority of states use the funds to help fund the new industry with administrative costs, marketing efforts, and policing the sportsbooks. After this amount is taken out, infrastructure projects like rebuilding roads, tunnels, and bridges are amongst the highest priorities. With most of the state’s allocating the money to their state’s general fund, they also assist in providing essential programs for education and further developing the health services department. Some states (Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas) even provide a small percentage to the city or county that hosts the sportsbooks.

Glossary Of Sports Betting Terms

Action – Any submitted wager.
Arbitrage – Betting on the same game in a different fashion to guarantee a profit.
Bad Beat – Action that took a turn for the worst in the final moments of a contest.
Bankroll – The total amount of money a bettor has available.
Bookmaker – An operator who accepts action.
Buying Points – Adjusting the odds to receive a more favorable point spread.
Even – Odds that do no cost vigorish.
Favorite – The team projected to win (aka chalk).
Field – A collection of players or teams not listed in a specific wager.
Futures – A wager that involves a long-term proposition.
Grand Salami – The projected number of runs/points/goals for all games within a league.
Handle – The total amount of money wagered by bettors and received by Bookmakers.
Hedge – A method to control losing money by wagering on the opposite side of the original wager.
Hold – The percentage of revenue divided by the handle (aka keep).
Hook – A half-point line movement.
In-Play – The ability to wager on games while they are taking place (aka live betting).
Liability – The total amount of money a Bookmaker will lose in the result of a game’s conclusion.
Limit – The highest amount of money a Bookmaker will accept for a wager (aka circled game).
Lock – A wager that seems like it can’t lose.
Longshot – A wager that is highly unlikely but pays out well.
Middle – Submitting two wagers to create a channel. Bettors can win both bets or lose one’s vigorish.
Moneyline – Odds for selecting a team to win a match regardless of points.
Odds – The payout associated with a wager.
Odds Board – The display which features betting lines and odds on all of the available wagers.
Off the Board – A wager that has been removed the odds board due to unknown circumstances.
Parlay – A combination of multiple wagers in which all must be correct to win.
Pick ‘Em – When no favorite is declared and odds are even or extremely close to.
Propositional Bet – A wager involving an independent aspect of a game/season (aka prop bet).
Point Spread – The projected margin of victory or defeat for a sporting event (aka line).
Push – A bet that ends in a tie and returns the bettor’s wager amount (aka draw or no action).
Revenue – The amount kept by sportsbooks from losing wagers.
Round Robin – A combination of multiple wagers broken down into varying parlays.
Sharp – A professional gambler or one with enough money to influence the odds.
Teaser – A parlay that involves moving the spreads in the bettor’s favor for lessened odds.
Total – The projected number of points scored for a sporting event (aka over/under).
Tout – One who sells picks or their advice to other bettors.
Underdog – The team projected to lose (aka dog).
Unit – A percentage of a bettor’s bankroll, usually 1%.
Vigorish – The commission made from a Bookmaker accepting a wager (aka vig or juice).