By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews
Maryland’s sportsbooks sent $132.3 million to the state in fiscal year 2026, a 48.8 percent jump over the year before. The new fiscal year has started on weaker footing. Through September, the state has collected $24.6 million, down 17.5 percent from the same three months a year ago, even though bettors wagered more money.
The numbers come from the monthly reports published by Maryland Lottery and Gaming, the agency that regulates the state’s sports wagering program. The latest, covering September, was released Oct. 13.
“Through September, the state has collected $24.6 million, down 17.5 percent from the same three months a year ago, even though bettors wagered more money.”
The last 12 months in one table
“November 2025 was the high point. The state received $19.0 million that month.”
Fiscal year 2026 ran from July 2025 through June 2026. The table below covers the last 12 monthly reports, October 2025 through September 2026, so it spans the end of one fiscal year and the start of the next.
| Month | Handle (millions) | Hold | State contribution (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 2025 | $736.6 | 9.9% | $14.1 |
| Nov. 2025 | $720.2 | 13.5% | $19.0 |
| Dec. 2025 | $636.3 | 12.7% | $15.7 |
| Jan. 2026 | $615.8 | 12.5% | $10.9 |
| Feb. 2026 | $515.7 | 9.9% | $7.3 |
| March 2026 | $604.7 | 10.4% | $8.8 |
| April 2026 | $574.2 | 11.0% | $9.1 |
| May 2026 | $535.4 | 12.3% | $9.9 |
| June 2026 | $523.3 | 10.4% | $7.6 |
| July 2026 | $496.4 | 11.2% | $8.5 |
| Aug. 2026 | $465.9 | 9.7% | $7.0 |
| Sept. 2026 | $652.2 | 9.0% | $9.1 |
| 12 months | $7,076.8 | 11.1% | $127.1 |
Handle is the total amount wagered. Hold is the share of handle the sportsbooks kept after paying winnings. Twelve-month totals were calculated from the agency’s unrounded monthly figures.
November 2025 was the high point. The state received $19.0 million that month, which the agency’s release called the largest single-month return to the state since the program launched. August 2026 was the low, at $7.0 million.
For the fiscal year itself, the agency’s total of $132.3 million compares with $88.9 million the year before, a 48.8 percent increase.
A 20 percent tax that does not collect 20 percent
“But the state does not receive 20 percent of what the sportsbooks keep.”
Part of last year’s jump is easy to explain. Lawmakers raised the tax on mobile sports wagering from 15 percent to 20 percent as part of the 2025 budget reconciliation law, effective July 1, 2025. They stopped short of the 30 percent rate Gov. Wes Moore had initially proposed. Retail sportsbooks still pay 15 percent, with the proceeds going to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund. Mobile sportsbooks pay 20 percent of taxable proceeds, with 15 percentage points going to the Blueprint Fund and five to the General Fund. By our calculation from the agency’s FY2026 taxable proceeds, that works out to about $99.7 million for the Blueprint Fund and $32.6 million for the General Fund in fiscal 2026. The higher tax rate contributed to the increase, although changes in betting volume, sportsbook hold, and deductions also affected collections.
But the state does not receive 20 percent of what the sportsbooks keep. The 20 percent mobile rate applies to taxable win, which is what remains after winnings, free promotional wagers, and other deductions come out. September shows the gap. Mobile sportsbooks held $56.6 million, but mobile taxable win was $44.2 million, and the state received $9.1 million in total from retail and mobile combined. That is 15.6 percent of the $58.5 million combined hold. Using the same measure, state contributions divided by combined retail and mobile hold, by our calculation from the agency’s figures:
- October through December 2025: about 19.5 percent of hold.
- January through September 2026: about 14.7 percent of hold.
The reports point to one visible difference. Deductible-free promotional wagers in mobile handle totaled about $305,000 across October, November and December. In January, they jumped to $20.3 million for the month and stayed between roughly $9 million and $17 million every month through September. The agency’s releases do not explain the swing, and its cause has not been established. After a licensee’s first full fiscal year, the agency’s rules generally cap deductible promotional play at 20 percent of the prior fiscal year’s proceeds, measured using the licensee’s own fiscal year, and an agency staff memo says at least one licensee’s fiscal year is the calendar year. Whether deduction limits resetting at different times explains the January change is a question for the agency.
“In January they jumped to $20.3 million for the month and stayed between roughly $9 million and $17 million every month through September.”
The deduction has also been a live policy fight. The Department of Legislative Services reported that mobile promotional play spending fell from $211.4 million in fiscal 2023 to $105.8 million in fiscal 2025. The agency’s fiscal 2026 summary shows $113.3 million in mobile promotional play deductions. In August 2025, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency proposed a regulation to lower the annual cap on mobile promotional play from 20 percent to 5 percent of the prior fiscal year’s proceeds. As of January, that regulation had not been finally published and was not in effect. House Bill 291 and its Senate companion, Senate Bill 102, would have authorized the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to set promotional play deduction limits by regulation. The General Assembly records reviewed for this article did not show either bill advancing. The currently published Maryland regulation still specifies a 20 percent limit, and a June 2026 agency staff memo recommended leaving it at 20 percent. The agency has not confirmed the final disposition of the proposed reduction.
More betting, less money
“None of this means Marylanders are betting less. They are betting more.”
September is the clearest example of the problem. Bettors wagered $652.2 million this September, slightly more than the $651.0 million a year earlier. The sportsbooks held 9.0 percent, down from 11.2 percent a year earlier. The state’s share fell from $13.5 million to $9.1 million, a drop of 32.5 percent on essentially the same handle.
The first quarter of fiscal 2027 tells the same story:
- Handle: $1.61 billion, up 11.4 percent.
- Hold: 9.9 percent, down from 11.7 percent.
- State contribution: $24.6 million, down 17.5 percent from $29.8 million.
None of this means Marylanders are betting less. They are betting more. It means the state’s cut depends on how often the house wins and how much of that win is left after deductions, and lawmakers and regulators control the tax rate and deduction rules but not game outcomes or hold.
That matters because the state is counting on this money. A January fiscal note from the Department of Legislative Services, using Board of Revenue Estimates figures, projected $113.9 million from mobile and $2.1 million from retail wagering in fiscal 2027, or $116.0 million combined. The first quarter delivered 21.2 percent of that. Last year’s first quarter was 22.5 percent of the full-year total. If this year’s first quarter ends up being the same share of the year, the state would finish near $109 million. That is arithmetic, not a forecast. Collections are seasonal and depend heavily on game outcomes, so one quarter cannot reliably predict a full year. The January estimate may also have been revised since. But it shows how little room there is if hold stays low.
“That is arithmetic, not a forecast.”
The market outside the licensed books
“It is also unclear how much prediction-market activity would otherwise have gone to Maryland’s licensed sportsbooks.”
Licensed sportsbooks are not the only place Marylanders can bet on games. Kalshi, a prediction market, offers sports event contracts. Maryland regulators sent the company a cease-and-desist letter in April 2025, and a federal judge in Maryland declined in August 2025 to block that order. Kalshi appealed, and told the appeals court at the time that Maryland had agreed not to enforce its laws against the company while the appeal is pending. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard the case on May 7. No ruling had been filed as of the latest docket entry, dated Oct. 12, and both sides have kept filing supplemental authorities with the court since September.
On Aug. 13, Baltimore City filed separate lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. The city alleges the companies run unlicensed sports betting platforms and avoid the taxation, oversight, and consumer protections that apply to licensed operators. The Kalshi suit also names Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase’s markets unit, which the city says offer Kalshi contracts to their users, according to The Block. Kalshi has argued in the Maryland federal case that federal commodities law preempts state gaming rules. The dispute is also national. The NFL and a multistate coalition have backed New Jersey’s request for Supreme Court review of a separate Kalshi case, after conflicting federal appellate decisions, according to SBC Americas and other outlets.
Whether those contracts are subject to state gambling laws remains a question for the courts. It is also unclear how much prediction-market activity would otherwise have gone to Maryland’s licensed sportsbooks. On the licensed side, every mobile sportsbook pays Maryland 20 percent of taxable proceeds, and the state is budgeting around that income.
Other details in the data
- Mobile dominates. Mobile sportsbooks accounted for 98 to 99 percent of handle in every one of the 12 months.
- Retail is tiny. In September, retail handle was $11.0 million, about 1.7 percent of the total, and retail sports wagering produced $264,171 for the state.
- Hold swings. Monthly hold ranged from 9.0 percent in September 2026 to 13.5 percent in November 2025.
What to Watch
- Hold. October’s report, expected in November, will provide another test of whether September’s 9.0 percent hold was an isolated result or part of a broader decline.
- The promotional cap. The August 2025 proposal would be withdrawn by operation of law if it was not finally published by August 2026. Whether it was published, withdrawn or revised is worth asking the agency.
- Fourth Circuit. A ruling on Kalshi’s appeal would decide whether the company gets the injunction it sought. Judges on the panel suggested at argument that the case could end up at the Supreme Court.
- The next budget. Any revenue estimate for sports wagering in the next round of Annapolis forecasts will be built on a hold number the state cannot control.
Sources: Maryland Lottery and Gaming monthly sports wagering releases for October 2025 (Nov. 10, 2025) through September 2026 (Oct. 13, 2026), and the agency’s Sports Wagering Revenue Reports page, mdgaming.com. The agency’s FY2026 summary (August 2026), and its staff agenda memos on promotional play (August 2025 and June 2026). Fox Baltimore on the fiscal year total (July 2026). Maryland Department of Legislative Services, Fiscal and Policy Note for House Bill 291 (Jan. 19, 2026), and the General Assembly bill page for Senate Bill 102. CasinoBeats (May 27, 2025) on the 2025 tax increase and House Bill 352. Covers and SBC Americas (April 2025) on the cease-and-desist letters. InGame (May 7, 2026) on the Fourth Circuit argument, and InGame (Aug. 13, 2025) on the nonenforcement agreement, SBC Americas (Oct. 9, 2026) on the Supreme Court request, the Fourth Circuit docket in KalshiEX LLC v. Martin, No. 25-1892, through entry 131 (Oct. 12, 2026), and the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in KalshiEX LLC v. Schuler (Sept. 25, 2026), which describes the Maryland appeal as pending. The City of Baltimore’s Aug. 13, 2026 news release and the Maryland Association of Counties, Conduit Street (Aug. 18, 2026), on the city’s lawsuits, and The Block (Aug. 13, 2026) on the defendants. Handle, hold, state take rate, and fiscal-year handle figures not stated directly in agency releases were calculated by MDBayNews from agency data.
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