September Sports Betting Rebounds in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but Only Michigan's Handle Grew

Football lifted sportsbook handle by 48% to 65% on August in all three states, and revenue recovered from August's low. Against September 2025 the picture splits: Michigan and Pennsylvania revenue rose sharply on better results, New Jersey's fell 14.3%, and only Michigan took more bets than a year earlier.

• Michigan's online sportsbooks took $544.8 million in September, up 64.9% on August and 3.9% on September 2025, and adjusted gross receipts rose 88.2% year on year to $24.89 million, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board
• Pennsylvania's handle rose 60.2% on August to $798.7 million but was 6.09% lower than a year earlier, while taxable revenue rose 50.45% to $44.7 million after promotional credits jumped to $28.8 million from $11.1 million
• New Jersey's sports wagering revenue was $77.0 million, up from $61.4 million in August but down 14.3% on September 2025, as football bettors won: the state's sportsbooks kept 1.3% of football handle, against 4.8% a year earlier
• The monthly rebound follows the AGA's August tracker, which put US sports betting revenue down 15.6% on lower hold with handle down 0.7%
• Online casino kept growing year on year in all three, by 18.4% in Michigan, 13.0% in New Jersey and 6.82% in Pennsylvania, though Michigan's iGaming receipts have been flat for three months

Football Brings the Volume Back, and Promotions Take Much of It

Michigan's online sportsbooks handled $544.8 million in September, up from $330.5 million in August and $524.3 million in September 2025, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB). Gross receipts rose to $55.5 million from $34.6 million in August, but adjusted gross receipts (AGR), the taxable figure after deductions, chiefly free play, rose only 2.9% to $24.89 million. The gap between the two widened to $30.6 million from $10.4 million. Against a weak September 2025, when AGR was $13.2 million, the year-on-year rise was 88.2%. Gross receipts equalled 10.2% of handle, against 8.3% a year earlier.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) reported total September gaming revenue of $555.0 million, up 4.07%. Sports wagering handle was $798.7 million, of which $767.5 million was online, against $498.5 million in August and $850.5 million in September 2025. Revenue before promotions rose to $73.5 million from $50.5 million in August, according to the board's monthly report, but promotional credits rose to $28.8 million from $11.1 million, leaving $44.7 million of taxable revenue. That is 13.7% more than August and 50.45% more than September 2025's $29.7 million. Taxable revenue was 5.6% of handle, against 3.5% a year earlier, though the board cautions that its handle includes bets on future events, so the ratio is not a true win rate.

New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) reported sports wagering revenue of $77.0 million, down 14.3% from $89.8 million. Online sportsbooks took $72.9 million, down 18.8%, while retail lounges made $4.1 million against a small loss a year earlier. Handle on events completed in the month was $1.086 billion, up from $732.4 million in August but down 3.6% from $1.126 billion. Sportsbooks kept 6.3% of it, against 7.3% a year earlier, and football did the damage: handle fell 15.3% to $318.8 million and the books won $4.3 million of it, 1.3%.

Online Casino Still Grows, More Slowly in Michigan

Michigan's iGaming AGR was $288.15 million, up 18.4% on a year earlier but down 0.9% on August, which was itself only 0.1% above July: a plateau at about $290 million a month. New Jersey's internet gaming win was $274.8 million, up 13.0%, and Pennsylvania's online casino revenue $249.3 million, up 6.82%.

The tax take differs widely. Michigan, which taxes online sports betting AGR at 8.4% and iGaming on a graduated 20% to 28%, received $1.8 million in online sports betting taxes and fees, up from $768,038 a year earlier, and $60.6 million from iGaming, with a further $14.0 million paid to the City of Detroit. Pennsylvania's sports wagering tax, 34% plus a 2% local share, raised $16.1 million, and iGaming $114.9 million, out of $242.6 million in total. New Jersey collected $15.7 million in sports wagering taxes, mostly at 19.75% plus 1.25% on online revenue, and $61.1 million from internet gaming.

Elsewhere, New York's commercial casinos took $184.3 million in September; the AGA's September tracker will bring the states together.

The Rebound Is a Hold Story, Not a Demand Story

The August decline the AGA reported was mostly hold, and so is the September recovery. In Pennsylvania, 6% less handle produced 50% more taxable revenue; in Michigan, 3.9% more handle produced 88.2% more AGR. Both were measured against a September 2025 in which results went badly for the books. New Jersey shows the other side: with football favouring bettors, slightly lower handle produced a 14.3% fall. On our sum of the three regulators' figures, handle was about 3% below last September, though the states measure it differently. That sits awkwardly with Stifel's estimate, as reported by Legal Sports Report, of about 4% year-on-year handle growth across 13 reporting states. September revenue says operators were luckier than last year; it does not say more people were betting.

Michigan's Growth Fits the Cannibalisation Argument, but One Month Proves Little

The states differ in one way that matters to the prediction-market debate. In Michigan, Kalshi has been barred from offering sports contracts by a state court injunction, Robinhood stopped them in September and Coinbase agreed to stop by 10 October. New Jersey and Pennsylvania sit in the Third Circuit, which ruled for Kalshi in April. Michigan was the only one of the three where handle grew. That is consistent with the AGA's claim that exchanges are taking volume from licensed books, but it is one month, on measures that are not identical, and no regulator publishes exchange volume by state to test it. Promotions point to the other pressure: Pennsylvania's credits more than doubled, and Michigan's deductions took more than half of gross receipts.

Free Play Decides What the Rebound Is Worth to the States

Pennsylvania taxes sportsbooks at 36% in all, but only after promotional credits, so $28.8 million of September's revenue was never taxed. Michigan's AGR is also net of free play, and its state take from $544.8 million of online bets was $1.8 million. With Pennsylvania lawmakers now pressing on the product, through a bill filed this week to cap deposits at two a day and ban microbets after the board reported self-exclusions up 18%, the promotional spending behind each football rebound is likely to draw as much attention as the handle.

September gave sportsbooks their revenue back but not their growth. October, with a full NFL month and Michigan's exchange restrictions complete, is the cleaner test of whether licensed handle has stalled.