All About Maryland Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Steve Bittenbender

@BittGDCG

October 10, 2025 11:46am

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, September vs. August

Maryland sports bettors kicked off the 2025 NFL season with a record-breaking performance.

According to numbers that Maryland Lottery and Gaming reported on Oct. 10, the state’s licensed operators accepted $650,971,388 in wagers (or handle) for September.

Not only was that a 49.9% improvement from August’s $434,220,458, but it also broke the record for highest monthly handle, previously set in November 2024 when bettors risked $639,867,400.

Bettors used mobile apps to place $636,667,610 worth of wagers, and that was up 49.2% from the $426,612,092 wagered online in August. That also was a record, surpassing the high mark of $621,012,112 in mobile handle, again from November.

Operator revenue rose at a similar rate. Maryland’s approved sportsbooks generated $67,894,919 last month, growing by 49.1% from the $45,536,710 they earned in August. Mobile wagering accounted for $65,792,705 in revenue, and that was 48.9% better than the $44,177,225 they won the month before.

Maryland’s share of the proceeds grew at the same rates as operator revenues. The state received $13,473,873 in September, compared to $9,039,368 in August, with $13,158,541 coming from online. That sector was responsible for $8,835,445 of August’s tax bill.

It’s very likely that September’s record will be short-lived, as betting traffic increased by 22.2% from the $523,866,676 handle produced in September 2024. Typically, handles peak in the middle of football season.

The top five online apps by handle in September were FanDuel ($254,084,094), DraftKings ($193,359,594), bet365 ($46,702,093), BetMGM ($44,303,388) and Fanatics ($41,619,163).

Pro football accounted for $120,804,138 of the wagering in September. Those are just single bets as parlays across all sports were responsible for $234,297,647 in bets, a 36% share of Maryland’s total monthly handle. Baseball was the second-highest single-bet sport with a handle of $60,161,046. Pro basketball ($57,266,320), tennis ($47,515,165) and college football ($31,407,348) rounded out the top five.

Maryland Mobile Sports Betting History