Mobile sports betting has become New York’s second-largest source of gaming revenue, generating about $1.3 billion for the state in the latest fiscal year as the amount wagered since online betting began surpassed $91 billion, according to a new report from the state Comptroller’s Office.
The rapid growth has also brought concerns about problem gambling, underage participation and a new generation of prediction markets that offer sports-related contracts outside New York’s traditional gaming regulatory structure. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office said mobile wagering has driven nearly all of the growth in state gaming revenue over the past decade while the state continues to lack detailed information about its effects on problem gamblers.
New York collected more than $5.1 billion from lottery sales and taxes on other gaming in state fiscal year 2026, an increase of $1.3 billion, or 32.7%, from fiscal 2016. The lottery remained the largest source, accounting for 47.3% of gaming revenue, while mobile sports wagering moved into second place.
The Comptroller’s Office found the broader increase was essentially attributable to mobile sports wagering. Revenue from other forms of gaming collectively declined 0.8% over the decade.
More than $91 billion wagered since mobile betting began
Mobile sports wagering began in New York in January 2022. From then through the end of state fiscal year 2026, bettors placed more than $91.2 billion in mobile wagers, generating $8.3 billion in gross gaming revenue for operators and about $4.26 billion in state taxes.
New York taxes mobile sports wagering operators at 51% of gross gaming revenue, which represents wagers received minus winning bets paid and cancelled or voided wagers.
Annual state tax collections climbed sharply as the market expanded. They increased from $727.4 million in fiscal 2023 to about $1.3 billion in fiscal 2026, a 78.4% increase.
A separate report from the state Gaming Commission and Office of Addiction Services and Supports counted nearly 7.2 million unique mobile sports wagering accounts in New York in 2025. Among accounts for which age information was provided, the market skewed toward younger adults: 77% were held by people between 21 and 44, and the largest group — 40% — was between 25 and 34.
The average amount wagered per account was $3,500 in 2025, down from $4,329 in 2024. The average wager was $42.
Basketball dominated the market in 2025, accounting for about $9.13 billion, or 36%, of single sports wagers. Football followed at roughly $5.05 billion, baseball at $4.42 billion, tennis at $3.02 billion and soccer at $1.7 billion.
Together, those five sports accounted for nearly $23.3 billion, or 91.9%, of mobile sports wagers examined by the state.
Knicks championship shows volatility for sportsbooks and state revenue
The report also illustrates how quickly state tax collections can change depending on whether bettors or sportsbooks come out ahead during major sporting events.
During the first quarter of state fiscal year 2027, covering April through June, gross gaming revenue totaled $565.1 million, down $83.1 million from the same period a year earlier. State revenue fell $38.6 million, or 12.5%.
June stood out.
More than $2.2 billion was wagered that month, an increase of $604 million, or 36.6%, from June 2025. Despite the increase in betting, sportsbook gross gaming revenue fell $89.7 million, or 43.5%, to $116.8 million.
The Comptroller’s Office pointed to the New York Knicks’ 2026 NBA championship as a potential explanation. The Knicks entered the finals as underdogs with comparatively high odds, according to sources cited in the report.
During the two weeks covering the NBA Finals, more than $1 billion in mobile sports wagers were made, but operators recorded a net gross gaming revenue loss of $14.4 million because winning bets paid out more than the amount received in wagers.
The FIFA Men’s World Cup produced a different result. Excluding the NBA Finals week, wagering during the World Cup totaled $2.5 billion, up $775.5 million, or 45.7%, compared with similar weeks in 2025. Gross gaming revenue increased $84.8 million, or 43.7%, over the comparable period.
Betting at casinos has fallen sharply
Mobile wagering has also coincided with a steep decline in sports betting at New York’s commercial casinos.
In-person sports betting began at the state’s four commercial casinos in July 2019. Unlike mobile wagering, which is taxed at 51% of gross gaming revenue, in-person sports wagering is taxed at the same 10% rate applied to casino table games.
From its introduction through fiscal 2026, in-person sports wagering generated $69 million in gross gaming revenue — less than 1% of the amount generated by mobile wagering.
Commercial casino sportsbook revenue peaked at $16.9 million in fiscal 2022. By fiscal 2026, it had fallen to $5.7 million, about one-third of that peak.
The figures cover the state’s commercial casinos, including del Lago Resort & Casino in Seneca County. The report notes that comparable data for sports betting at tribal casinos isn’t available.
Prediction markets emerge as regulatory challenge
The Comptroller’s Office also focused heavily on prediction markets including Kalshi and Polymarket, platforms that allow users to trade contracts based on the outcome of real-world events.
Although prediction markets have historically included contracts tied to subjects such as financial markets, economics and elections, sports have rapidly become a major part of their business.
Global trading volume on Kalshi rose from more than $1.8 billion during the second half of 2024 to more than $24 billion in 2025. Polymarket recorded $27.1 billion in trading volume in 2025.
Growth accelerated in 2026. By July, combined global trading volume on Kalshi and Polymarket had reached $208.6 billion.
Sports accounted for 79.8% of Kalshi trading volume from January through July and 51.2% of Polymarket’s trading volume. On Polymarket, the share connected with sporting events climbed from 40.5% in January to 71.8% in July.
That growth has created a legal dispute over whether sports-related prediction contracts should be regulated as financial products at the federal level or as gambling by individual states.
The New York State Gaming Commission sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist letter in October 2025 accusing the company of making an unlicensed mobile sports wagering platform available in New York in connection with sporting events. A federal judge in Manhattan rejected Kalshi’s request for a preliminary injunction against the state action in July 2026.
Later that month, the governor and attorney general announced a state lawsuit alleging Kalshi was operating an illegal gambling business. The Comptroller’s report also noted that 44 state attorneys general, including New York’s, have argued that the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission lacks authority over sports-related event contracts.
The Comptroller’s Office didn’t determine whether prediction markets have reduced conventional mobile sports wagering in New York, saying the effect is currently unknown. It warned, however, that continued growth could pose a risk to state sports wagering revenue depending on how the regulatory disputes are resolved.
Underage activity and problem gambling draw concern
The growth of online wagering has also increased attention on problem gambling.
State law requires mobile sports wagering operators and commercial casinos to maintain problem gambling plans, follow advertising restrictions and provide information directing people to gambling assistance. Mobile sports wagering is restricted to people 21 and older.
A state report identified 791 attempts by underage individuals to establish mobile sports wagering accounts in 2025.
It also reported 1,972 alleged incidents of underage participation involving existing wagering accounts that year, up from 54 in 2023. The report attributed those incidents to underage people receiving access to accounts that had been legally established by adults.
There were also 1,887 active individuals on New York’s voluntary self-exclusion list, which allows people to bar themselves from gambling operations regulated by the Gaming Commission.
The state’s HOPEline received 2,545 calls in 2025, an increase of 8.5% from 2020. Mobile sports wagering has been the leading reason for calls since 2022.
The Comptroller’s Office said the available data still provides limited insight into which demographic groups are most affected by problem gambling despite a statutory requirement for annual reporting on the issue.
Prediction markets create an additional concern because they operate under different rules. Kalshi permits participation beginning at age 18 rather than 21, and prediction market advertising isn’t subject to the same state restrictions governing licensed sports wagering.
The report cited American Gaming Association data indicating prediction markets accounted for 45% of digital sports betting advertisements in 2026.
New Gaming Commission data-collection regulations took effect Feb. 28, 2026. The Comptroller’s Office said improved information and more timely reporting will be needed to understand the effects of online wagering and guide future decisions.
New York also doubled the amount of mobile sports wagering tax revenue dedicated to problem gambling services from $6 million to $12 million in the current fiscal year.
The Comptroller’s Office said the outcome of legal disputes involving states, federal regulators and prediction markets could have significant implications for gaming revenue and urged policymakers to be prepared for additional demand for problem gambling services.
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