The New York State Gaming Commission released its April 2026 mobile sports betting report on Tuesday, May 13, showing total mobile sportsbook handle of $1.71 billion across the nine licensed operators. The figure is the second-highest single-month handle in the program's history, behind only October 2025's $1.81B during the NFL opening month, and represents an 18.3% year-over-year increase from April 2025.
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) — the amount operators kept after paying winning wagers — totaled $172.8 million for April. The hold rate of 10.1% is meaningfully above the program's long-run average of 8.4% and reflects a month in which favorites covered at a higher-than-typical rate.
April 2026 numbers at a glance. Handle: $1.71B. GGR: $172.8M. Hold: 10.1%. State tax paid: $88.1M (at the 51% rate). Promo spend: $116.3M.
What Drove the Jump
Knicks NBA Playoff Run
The New York Knicks won their first-round series 4-2 over the Detroit Pistons in late April, then took a 2-1 series lead over the Boston Celtics in the second round before falling 4-2. Knicks playoff games specifically drove a 47% spike in NBA-specific handle in April compared to the 2025 first round.
Marcus's takeaway from the data: Knicks home playoff games at Madison Square Garden consistently generate 2.5-3x the handle of equivalent non-NY-team playoff matchups. The MSG-going-to-a-Knicks-game crowd overlaps heavily with the active mobile-sportsbook user base, creating a foot-traffic-correlated handle pattern.
Yankees and Mets Hot Starts
Both New York MLB teams started 2026 strong. The Yankees were 17-8 through April, leading the AL East. The Mets were 14-12, second in the NL East. MLB handle in April 2026 reached $238M, up from $192M in April 2025 — a 24% jump that tracks both teams' early performance closely.
NFL Draft Coverage
The 2026 NFL Draft on April 24-26 generated unusual handle on the futures markets. Draft props (Bills' first-round selection, over/under on QB draft position, etc.) generated approximately $18M in handle alone — a category that typically contributes under $5M.
Operator Market Share — FanDuel Continues to Extend Lead
| Operator | April Handle | GGR | Hold | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $748.4M | $76.1M | 10.2% | 43.8% |
| DraftKings | $520.7M | $53.6M | 10.3% | 30.5% |
| Caesars | $143.2M | $13.4M | 9.4% | 8.4% |
| BetMGM | $132.6M | $13.0M | 9.8% | 7.8% |
| ESPN BET | $72.1M | $7.4M | 10.3% | 4.2% |
| BetRivers | $44.8M | $4.6M | 10.3% | 2.6% |
| Fanatics | $36.2M | $3.6M | 9.9% | 2.1% |
| BallyBet | $8.4M | $0.9M | 10.7% | 0.5% |
| Resorts WorldBet | $3.6M | $0.4M | 11.1% | 0.2% |
FanDuel's 43.8% market share is the highest single-operator share the New York market has seen since the program's January 2022 launch. The DraftKings-FanDuel gap has widened from 11 percentage points in Q1 2025 to 13.3 points in Q1 2026 to 13.3 points in April 2026 alone. The duopoly's combined 74.3% share is also the highest in program history.
The standout downward mover is ESPN BET, which has lost market share for three consecutive months and now sits at 4.2% — down from 5.4% in Q1 2025. The post-Penn-acquisition rebrand has not generated the customer-acquisition uplift Disney's internal projections expected. We've covered the ESPN BET situation specifically in a separate piece.
Tax Revenue and Allocation
April's $88.1M in state tax revenue brings the program's fiscal-year-to-date (April 2025 through April 2026 in NY's fiscal year) total to $928M. Under the 2021 legislation, sports betting tax revenue is allocated:
- $5 million per year to the OASAS Office for problem gambling treatment
- $6 million per year to youth education and sports programs
- The remainder to the state general fund, with most actual spending directed toward K-12 education through the state aid formula
The state has now collected over $2.1 billion in sports betting taxes since the January 2022 launch.
What to Watch in May Report
The May 2026 report (due around June 13) will cover the remainder of the NBA Conference Finals, the start of the Stanley Cup Finals, the bulk of the MLB regular season, and the early weeks of the WNBA season. With the Knicks eliminated in Round 2, NY-team NBA handle drops significantly. May handle should compress to the $1.1B-$1.3B range — still strong by historical standards but a meaningful decline from April.
The full NYSGC monthly report is downloadable at gaming.ny.gov. We pull from the same source and cross-reference operator-reported figures against the official numbers when discrepancies appear.
For our broader NY sports betting market context, see the sports betting hub. For the operator-by-operator detailed reviews, see our guides section.