The Sports Betting Market in US in 2026 will experience an entirely different environment than experts envisioned just five short years ago. Over this past five year many new states launched their own sportsbooks as frequently as every two weeks, and all of the major gaming operators invested $100s of millions into advertising campaigns to position themselves for a share of the rapidly expanding U.S. sports betting marketplace. In addition to the rapid growth of the overall U.S. sports betting market, today it is much more competitive and exciting. Trends in the sports betting industry tell a story related to the increase in the total amount wagered  in each state’s sportsbook(s), but also how the timing of such increases, the locations in which they occurred and the stakeholders benefiting from the increase are vastly different.

The Market by the Numbers: Where Things Stand

As of 2025, the U.S. sports betting industry reached a staggering $120 billion in annual handle. At this time it was hard to envision that amount as possible since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. NCAA opened doors to legalize sports betting in 2018. In addition, total gross gaming revenue (GGR) from sports wagering is anticipated to be $14-16 billion in 2026 in legal U.S. jurisdictions. This growth will continue to be influenced significantly by the ability of the largest operating entities to create better holds than were previously available.

Market Data Points Heading into 2026:

• There are currently 38 U.S. States plus Washington D.C. with laws permitting some type of sports betting.
• Online/mobile accounts comprise approximately 90% of all sports betting activity where states offer both retail and online/mobile options.
• NFL continues to lead all sports in terms of sports betting handle at about 55-60%.
• Parlay products – specifically Same Game Parlays (SGP’s) – now make up approximately 35-40% of overall GGR for sportsbooks, which represents a significant increase from less than 20% in 2021.
• Average hold for large scale operators has increased from approximately 6-7% in 2021 to 9-11% in 2025 due primarily to the use of parlay products and disciplined marketing.

These changes represent one of the most significant structural developments within the last three years. These changes mean operators are creating significantly more revenue per bet placed – and they can do so using existing customer bases and existing jurisdictions. The efficiency gained by these improvements is exactly what is enabling operators to generate profits across the industry.

Trend #1: Same-Game Parlays Have Permanently Reset Economics

No other new product development has had such an extensive impact on the economics of sports betting as that of the same-game parlay. A same-game parlay allows you to include different parts of one game – e.g., player prop, spread, total – all in one bet. In addition to being attractive to casual bettors because of their ease of use, and ability to create large potential payouts; same-game parlays have become attractive to operators because when there are many correlated events in a same-game parlay (e.g., team wins and player scores over 1.5), the actual probability of the event occurring is always less than what is implied by the odds used, resulting in much higher hold rates than if you were simply making individual bets.

As it relates to the SGP arms race that occurred among all major U.S. based operators from 2022-2024 – where each operator sought to establish or expand their same-game parlay capabilities – we have transitioned into a “quality” differentiation stage. While you may be able to make a same-game parlay at almost every online platform, the issue becomes which platforms provide:

• The largest number of player-specific prop lines (e.g. shot attempts, passing yards, rebounds)
• The fastest time-to-market for creating and submitting same-game parlays
• The highest margin (odds) available on legs of a same-game parlay that are most likely to correlate with each other
• A seamless user experience when using your mobile device to construct and share your slip

Trend #2: Live Betting Growth Is Accelerating – and It Changes Everything

The Live Betting segment has been a very quiet growth driver in the market. Unlike pre-game betting where there is generally a net-zero sum for all operators as they compete for bets, live betting produces a completely new type of product. That new type of product is an entertainment driven experience which is a single-session based experience.

Betting Type	Est. Share of Handle (2023)	Est. Share of Handle (2026)	Hold Range
Pre-game straight bets	58%	44%	4-6%
Pre-game parlays/SGPs	25%	28%	12-20%
Live/in-game	12%	23%	6-9%
Other (futures, props)	5%	5%	10-15%

Trend #3: iGaming Legalization Is the Sector’s Biggest Catalyst

The number of U.S. residents with access to online casino gaming remains very limited – just 7 states currently permit iGaming activity. Those include Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia. To put this into perspective, those 7 states represent about 12 percent of all U.S. residents who can legally participate in Internet Gaming.

A favorable climate may exist at the legislature level in several jurisdictions regarding potential expansion or introduction of new forms of legalized gaming by 2026. Of particular note is the status of New York which could provide a major boost to the industry if successful. While there are many other states where legislative momentum exists regarding gaming legislation, none appears as strong as that in New York.

Illinois is another state that has already permitted sports wagering. However, since 2019 Illinois legislators have been unable to move forward on introducing iGaming; however, they do continue to work toward an agreement with their Native American tribes. Indiana and Maryland both saw some renewed interest in legislation related to gaming during the year 2025-2026.

Texas will likely see its sports wagering bill pass first. In addition to Texas, we expect to see efforts from gaming proponents to introduce bills to allow iGaming in Texas. For comparison purposes: iGaming generated over $2B annually in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in New Jersey. If iGaming were to become available in New York (which has nearly triple the population of NJ), we believe it would produce well over $5 B annually in GGR within a couple of years after it launches – a figure that would dramatically impact the overall revenue profile of the U.S. gaming industry.

Trend #4: AI Is Reshaping the Bettor Experience

AI has moved past being a “buzzword” and into an actionable business model across the sports betting industry. The uses for AI beyond what many casual observers may be aware of include:

• Offering personalized odds and bonuses – Now with machine learning (ML), some offer bonus offers tailored to each bettor based on their profile; this can increase conversion rates while also decreasing waste in promotion spend.
• Tools to promote responsible gaming – AI tracks and monitors player behavior (such as rapid bets and large jumps in stakes); it identifies players that could become problem gamblers early so that they can prevent them from developing further. These systems will begin to be mandated by regulatory bodies.
• Detection of fraud and professional (sharp) bettors – Models will help detect if a player is a professional (sharp) bettor sooner, which allows operators to either restrict access to their account or lower limits before losing too much money.
• Dynamic Pricing – Odds are changed in real time using information from live data feeds, such as injury reports and price changes between various global books.
• Bot customer support – Most routine customer support inquiries (how long will my withdrawal take? How do I get paid?) can be answered by an AI bot instead of a human agent.

Those companies investing the most in their own proprietary AI technology infrastructure, as opposed to white label services, will continue to have better results in terms of hold percentage and reducing churn. It is expected that these results will improve over the next two years (2026-27) as the competitive advantage continues to grow.

The Competitive Landscape: Market Share in 2026

Operator	Est. US Sports Betting Market Share	iGaming Presence	Trend
FanDuel (Flutter)	~42%	Yes	Stable/slight decline
DraftKings	~28%	Yes	Gaining
BetMGM	~9%	Yes	Stable
ESPN Bet (Penn)	~5%	Limited	Volatile
Caesars	~7%	Limited	Declining
Others	~9%	Varies	Fragmented

Where the Market Is Heading: A 2026-2028 Outlook

Sports betting in 2028 will have changed significantly compared to where we are now. Some of the most significant trends that point toward this future include:

• Annual handle growth will slow dramatically to around 10-15% due to an increase in market saturation.
• iGaming and sports betting will continue to move closer together as a source of revenue for operators – iGaming may equal or surpass sports betting in the next three years in all fully regulated jurisdictions.
• Consolidation among middle tier operators will occur at some point; the costs associated with competing with the technology infrastructure of FanDuel and DraftKings is unsustainable for many of these operators.
• Increased state taxes on sports betting GGR will further compress margins – other jurisdictions (Illinois has already set the bar) may soon be modeled after Illinois’s 40 percent tax rate.
• The integration of media and sports leagues into the core product offerings of sportsbook operators will continue to evolve with increased in-broadcast betting opportunities and additional official data partnerships.

The key takeaway regarding U.S. sports betting by 2026 will be one of “normalization.” While normalization doesn’t necessarily equate to negative conclusions about how much a given market can grow, the era of triple digit year over year growth and massive marketing-based swings in market share is in our rear view mirror.