All About Maryland Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Steve Bittenbender

@BittGDCG

September 11, 2025 10:41am

The experts at BetMaryland.com have assembled this guide to explain what we mean when we talk about Maryland sports betting revenue, also known as hold, compared to the sports wagering handle that the state reports each month.

There is an evolving sports betting market in Maryland with many online/mobile operators as well as a number of retail sports wagering options at brick-and-mortar casinos. There is also in-person betting at smaller physical facilities around the state. The number of online sportsbook operators and retail sports wagering facilities is expected to increase in the near future.

The handle is simply the total dollars wagered on sports in the state each month. In Maryland, bettors wager hundreds of millions of dollars each month. After a sports betting law was passed by the state’s General Assembly in 2021, legal, regulated sports betting began initially at retail sportsbooks in five casinos in December 2021. Online sports betting launched with seven operators in November 2022.

The revenue derived from online Maryland sportsbook apps is called hold – that refers to the amount that operators have left after they pay out winning bets. Taxable win is the hold minus promotional wagers and other specified deductions. As of June 2025, each mobile sportsbook contributes 20% of its taxable win to the state, with the retail tax rate remaining at 15%.

Maryland Sports Betting, August vs. July

Maryland sports bettors were ready for some football in August.

Though there was just one full weekend of college football and three weeks of NFL preseason games, it was enough to send the Maryland sports betting handle to $434,220,458 last month, a 19.3% increase over July’s $364,075,296. Maryland Lottery and Gaming posted the latest figures on Sept. 10.

According to the data, wagering on pro football increased 970.7% from $1,848,658 in July to $19,804,002 in August. College football wagering experienced an even bigger gain, as the $12,392,124 bet in August represented a 9,2701.1% increase from July’s $132,238.

Parlay wagering also increased by 22.5% on a month-to-month basis with $144,660,928 worth of parlays made in August, compared to $118,122,358 in July. 

On a year-to-year basis, Maryland’s handle jumped by 15.1% from the $377,381,688 bettors risked in August 2024. 

Mobile sports betting traffic grew at the same rate, with the $426,612,092 in wagering up 19.3% from the $357,525,580 in bets the online sports betting apps accepted in July.

The arrival of football also led to sportsbooks earning more revenue. Their total taxable win in August of $45,536,710 represented a 24.8% improvement from the $36,476,351 they reported in July. Online apps accounted for $44,177,225 in revenue, which was 24% better than the $35,617,310 they won in July.

Higher operator revenue means more tax money for Maryland. The state collected $9,039,368 in sports betting taxes for August. That was 24.6% higher than July’s total of $7,252,318. Mobile wagering generated $8,835,445 of August’s taxes, and that was up 24% from July’s total of $7,123,462.

The top sports betting operators for August by handle were FanDuel ($176,119,517), DraftKings ($135,959,226), BetMGM ($34,859,838), Fanatics ($33,904,151) and Caesars ($19,219,217).

Even with football starting, the top individual sport for Maryland sports betting in August was baseball, which accounted for $78,404,153 in wagers. That was followed by tennis ($48,217,179), pro basketball ($46,981,933), pro football ($19,804,002) and soccer ($19,034,956).

Maryland Mobile Sports Betting History