US online casino revenue growth slows to 12% in Q3 2026

US online casino revenue rose 12% year on year in Q3 2026, according to Citizens Equity Research, the slowest growth rate of the year so far. The figure compares with 16% growth in Q2 and 19% in Q1. In September, revenue growth was 12%, up slightly from 11% in August.

FanDuel stayed on top of the iGaming market, yet its share slipped to 25.1% from 26.6% a year ago. DraftKings went from 24.3% to 22.2%, a result that still beat its 20.9% figure in Q2; Citizens attributed the gain to changes the company made to its business model in the spring. BetMGM fell to 18.6% from 20.7%, marking a sixth straight quarterly decline. Fanatics was the standout, climbing from 3.9% to 5.2%, near its Q2 level of 5.4%. Citizens added that the boost from recent launches in West Virginia and Michigan was starting to wear off. The rankings of the biggest operators did not change.

Q3 handle climbed 7% even though the period contained one fewer week of NFL action, the report found. In September, same-store handle was up 1% year on year, the best monthly gain of 2026 aside from June and July, when the World Cup was played. DraftKings held the biggest handle share at 37.6%, versus 37.3% a year ago. FanDuel's handle share climbed from 31.4% to 32.8%, but its GGR share dropped from 37.7% to 35.4%. Fanatics saw its handle share slide from 11.2% to 9.9% while its GGR share grew from 7.3% to 8.8%. Margins moved in opposite directions for BetMGM, up from 9.6% to 10.2%, and Caesars, down from 7.6% to 6.9%, while bet365 stayed at 9.4%.

These betting numbers back a view Citizens analyst Jordan Bender put forward earlier: prediction markets are not a major threat to sportsbooks. In his argument, heavy promotion by prediction platforms could be drawing new participants into sports betting instead of pulling customers away from existing books. Looking ahead, the analysts forecast that handle will rise in Q4 as the NFL season moves along.