New York Mobile Sports Betting Hits $1.3 Billion in Tax Revenue for Fiscal 2026

The New York State Comptroller’s Office released figures in September 2026 that show mobile sports betting produced $1.3 billion in state tax revenue during fiscal year 2026, a sharp rise from earlier periods, and placed the sector second only to the lottery among all gaming sources contributing to state coffers. Observers note that the growth reflects continued expansion since the market opened in 2022, with total wagers exceeding $91.2 billion and gross gaming revenue reaching $8.3 billion across that span.

Basketball captured the largest share of those wagers according to the breakdown in the report, while other sports contributed varying portions that together sustained the overall volume. The data comes directly from the Comptroller’s review of operator filings and tax collections, and it aligns with separate tracking by state gaming regulators who monitor handle and revenue on a monthly basis.

Revenue Scale and Market Position

State tax collections from mobile sports betting reached the $1.3 billion mark in fiscal 2026, surpassing previous years and confirming the category’s standing behind only the lottery in total gaming contributions. This ranking emerges because the lottery maintains a larger established base, yet mobile sports betting has closed the gap faster than many projected when legalization first took effect. The same report lists cumulative wagers since January 2022 at more than $91.2 billion, which in turn generated $8.3 billion in gross gaming revenue before taxes and operator costs were applied.

Those aggregate numbers illustrate how the market has scaled: early months after launch produced modest totals, while later quarters showed consistent increases in both handle and revenue. Tax revenue flows to the state through a combination of state and local shares, and the Comptroller’s Office tallies these payments directly from licensed operators each fiscal period.

Problem Gambling Hotline Trends

A separate joint report issued alongside the Comptroller’s data notes an increase in calls to the state’s problem gambling hotline during the same period of market growth. The rise in contacts coincides with higher overall betting activity, though the report does not attribute causation or provide per-capita rates. State agencies continue to track these calls as one indicator among several used to monitor responsible gambling program performance.

Hotline operators record basic call volume and category of concern, then forward aggregated statistics to the agencies that oversee both gaming regulation and public health outreach. The joint report presents these figures without assigning percentages or projecting future demand, leaving interpretation to readers who examine the raw counts against the backdrop of expanded betting options.

Sports Breakdown and Basketball Leadership

Basketball accounted for the single largest portion of wagers placed through mobile platforms in the most recent data set. The report lists this sport ahead of football, baseball, and other categories in total handle, a pattern that has held across multiple seasons since legalization. Seasonal timing plays a role, because basketball’s schedule spans both college and professional calendars that overlap with peak betting months.

Operators submit detailed sport-by-sport figures to regulators, and the Comptroller’s Office aggregates those submissions into the annual summary. The resulting distribution shows how different leagues and events draw distinct betting patterns, with basketball maintaining steady volume even outside traditional championship periods.

Context Within Broader Gaming Revenue

Mobile sports betting now sits immediately behind the lottery in the state’s gaming revenue hierarchy, according to the same Comptroller’s figures. This placement reflects both the rapid adoption of mobile platforms after 2022 and the lottery’s longer-established network of retail and online sales channels. Other gaming categories such as casinos and video lottery terminals contribute additional amounts, yet the mobile sports betting line has climbed into second position within a relatively short timeframe.

The fiscal year 2026 total of $1.3 billion in tax revenue represents the cumulative outcome of monthly operator remittances, and the Comptroller’s Office compares these collections against prior fiscal periods to identify growth trends. Those comparisons appear in the report’s tables and narrative sections without additional commentary on policy implications.

Conclusion

The September 2026 release from the New York State Comptroller’s Office supplies a clear snapshot of mobile sports betting performance through fiscal year 2026, anchored by the $1.3 billion tax revenue figure, the cumulative $91.2 billion in wagers, and the $8.3 billion gross gaming revenue total. Basketball’s leading share and the noted rise in hotline contacts appear as additional data points within the same reporting cycle. Readers can review the full Comptroller’s document and the accompanying joint report for the complete set of tables and methodology notes that support these headline numbers.