Image credit: Source: Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board data, published August 19, 2026.
Pennsylvania bettors wagered $509.5 million on sports in July, the state Gaming Control Board reported on August 19, up 23.5% from $412.5 million a year earlier. Taxable revenue rose faster still, up 27.75% to $51.8 million from $40.6 million, and the Commonwealth collected $18.66 million in sports wagering tax on that total.
Dividing revenue by handle puts Pennsylvania's taxable hold at about 10.2% this July, up from 9.8% in July 2025, a modest but real increase in how much of every dollar wagered the state's sportsbooks kept. July 2026 carried the World Cup final and its knockout rounds, the kind of high-profile, high-volume betting month that tends to move both figures at once.
FanDuel led the state with $165.7 million in handle and $25.4 million in revenue, according to Covers.com's tally of the board's operator-level data. DraftKings followed at $163.8 million in handle and $19.3 million in revenue. Combined, the two operators took in $329.5 million of Pennsylvania's total handle, roughly 65%, a share that has not meaningfully narrowed even as Fanatics, BetMGM and bet365 each cleared $32 million to $35 million in handle. Fanatics posted $35.2 million in handle against $3.9 million in revenue, BetMGM $35.1 million against $4.4 million, and bet365 $32.2 million against $3.7 million.
Not every sportsbook in the state made money. The Gaming Control Board's data show Valley Forge Casino Resort losing $79,979, Mount Airy Casino losing $48,274 and Mohegan Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley property losing $33,476 for the month, retail books that pay out more in a heavy betting month than they collect. Retail sports betting in Pennsylvania remains a small, uneven business next to online wagering, and July's numbers are a reminder that a big handle month for the state does not mean a big month for every licensee in it.
For bettors, the takeaway is less about who won and more about when they bet. A month that produces a higher-than-usual hold for operators is, by definition, a worse month for the average bettor's return, whatever the promotions on offer. Pennsylvania does not publish a bettor-facing hold figure, but the arithmetic behind the state's own numbers tells the same story every major single-elimination tournament does: heavy favorites and popular parlays during marquee events tend to pay the house first.
The scale gap between FanDuel and DraftKings on one side and everyone else on the other has held for years in Pennsylvania, and July did nothing to close it. What moved was the size of the pie, not who is splitting it.
Pennsylvania's duopoly did not need a good month to stay ahead
A record handle month is supposed to be the moment a smaller operator claims real share. Fanatics, BetMGM and bet365 all grew in absolute dollars in July, and none of them gained meaningfully on FanDuel or DraftKings' combined lead. In a market this mature, growth for everyone is starting to look like the ceiling, not the opportunity.
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