U.S. Gaming Reports

The September edition of our U.S. Sports Betting Market Monitor is now live, with data current through July nationally and August where state-reported data are available. 3Q demand looks healthier than revenue. Through August, FanDuel and DraftKings carried handle growth of +16% and +14% y/y, respectively, but weaker hold left NGR at -4% and -14%. Early September commentary points to continued sportsbook handle strength, though customer-friendly NFL results in Weeks 1 and 3 suggest hold remained a headwind heading into earnings. Prediction markets are increasingly pressuring sportsbook acquisition economics even where direct cannibalization remains limited. Affiliate checks suggest a CPA of roughly ~$200 is now achievable for a PM customer versus ~$250 for an OSB customer, narrowing the incentive gap materially and pulling affiliate and paid-media attention toward PMs. The competitive backdrop is shifting as well. DraftKings effectively pulled level with FanDuel on 3Q26 GGR share through August, while FanDuel fell to a post-COVID low before stepping up bonusing in September. With underlying U.S. OSB growth slowing, a larger share of future operator growth will increasingly need to come from won share rather than market expansion. We also examine a potentially meaningful new adjacency: based on Playtech disclosures, we estimate Hard Rock’s NASCAR-based casino-style product in Florida could be run-rating at roughly $1-$2bn annually. Multiple operators are now exploring similar racing-based products, though recent history across DFS+, sweepstakes, and prediction markets suggests regulatory adjacencies rarely scale without opposition.

Aristocrat's Lightning Link High Stakes climbs to the #1 Overall rank this month with a Theo Win Index of 55.84x, dethroning IGT's Cash Eruption, while IGT's Money Gong Empress and Money Gong Emperor both land in the Top 20 of the Slots and NEW Slots segments. IGT moves into the #1 rank by % of Total GGR at 12.8%. White Hat Studios, Light & Wonder, Aristocrat, and Inspired all gain share of Total GGR year-over-year, with White Hat Studios posting the largest increase, from 8.9% to 10.7%. Light & Wonder again leads all suppliers in % of Top Slot Themes at 11.5% with 98 themes above 1x, while Games Global tops the NEW Slots ranks with six of the Top 25, ahead of IGT's four. Other top-ranking NEW Slots this month include: #6 — 3 Blazing Chilis Hold And Win, Octoplay #9 — 333 Boom Banks 2 Power Combo, Games Global #11 — Money Stacks, AGS #18 — Starlight Jackpots Bison Rush, Greentube Game performance data is captured from 40 casino sites across Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Segment leadership belongs entirely to the Big 3 this month, as IGT, Aristocrat, and Light & Wonder hold all nine core and premium segment leads. Cabinets launched over recent months continue to build floor share. Light & Wonder leads the group, with Lightwave Solar at #1 in Portrait Upright and the Lightwave up six ranks in Premium Video Reel. Incredible Technologies' Prism Spark moves into the Portrait Upright top five, and Bluberi Gaming's Beacon Jumbo tops the core new-cabinet list. Valicy makes its first appearance, debuting at #3 in the Emerging Supplier segment with the Teton Le on a limited install base. Full segment leads, Portrait Upright and Premium Video Reel rankings, and Emerging Supplier results are in this month's report.

Aristocrat extends its run this month, with Buffalo – Mega Stampede rising to #1 among New Premium Leased & WAP games in its twelfth month in the market while also topping the new Sub Parent rankings. Aristocrat now claims 58.4% of Top New Premium Leased & WAP placements, a three-year high, and Phoenix Link – Queen Chiu overtakes Dragon Link – Golden Century as the top overall Premium Leased game. Light & Wonder's Hot Hot Flaming Pots titles climb to #2 and #3 among New Core Video games, and the supplier leads all others with 33.3% of Top New Core placements. IGT's Jin Ling Link – Emperors Throne debuts on the Overall Core rankings. Emerging suppliers post gains of their own: Sega Sammy's Super Burst – Boosted – Cartin Gold takes the #1 rank for Overall Emerging Suppliers, while Valicy sweeps the top nine New ranks for Class 2 Emerging Suppliers. Full segment rankings, Sub Parent detail, and supplier share by segment are in this month's report.

This monthly report provides a digest of legislative and regulatory developments for the emerging market for regulated sports betting in the United States. New features this month include updates to quick takes on the latest sports betting policy developments in federal gambling tax policy and sports betting in Nebraska; and an analysis of a legal challenge to New York's OSB framework.

Based on reported figures and our proprietary estimates, we estimate total U.S. & Canada Gaming Revenue increased +5% y/y and +3% q/q to $38.1 billion in 2Q26. See the Commercial Slot Revenue slide for more commentary, but annual and sequential results were driven by macro-economic health that continues to support GGR growth, expansion into under-penetrated markets, and expanded gambling offerings (sports betting, iGaming, select Route Ops, new casino growth). See the Total Slot and Table sections for our CY26 forecasts for each segment.

The August edition of our U.S. Online Casino Monitor is now live, with data current through July 2026. U.S. iCasino growth remains healthy but continues to moderate. Nationwide GGR increased +16% y/y in July, with T3M growth at +17% and T12M at +20%. More importantly, the mix of growth continues to shift toward slots: in Pennsylvania, July slots handle rose +13% y/y while tables fell -3%, extending a broader pattern of slots strength alongside softer tables activity. A central focus this month is what happens to sportsbook-to-iCasino cross-sell as football returns. 2Q26 earnings added support to the softness we have been tracking: FanDuel, BetMGM and Penn each cited some pressure on sportsbook-driven casino activity. At the same time, direct casino acquisition is carrying more weight—FanDuel direct casino AMPs grew 26% y/y, RSI described recent North American player growth as iCasino-led, and Penn’s standalone Hollywood Casino app reached record quarterly revenue. With the World Cup producing only a modest iCasino read-through, peak football season now provides a more meaningful test of the traditional cross-sell engine. Competitive dynamics are also getting more interesting. The FanDuel-DraftKings-BetMGM triopoly controls roughly 62% of early-3Q26 GGR, but remains below prior levels as Fanatics and Hard Rock defend recent gains. Those gains increasingly have product support: our 1H26 testing ranked Hard Rock #2 and Fanatics #4 overall, while DraftKings is beginning to show early signs of a GGR-share rebound after an extended decline. Also inside: Margin discipline holds: July bonusing rose, but remained below early/mid-2025 levels. Ohio still a long shot: a friendlier governor alone likely won’t unlock iCasino. DraftKings UA improves: 24% of standalone iCasino app downloads in 3Q26 through August. Game performance: Cash Eruption widened its July GGR-share lead over Huff N Even More Puff Grand.

The August edition of EKG’s Prediction Markets Monitor is now live, with PM data current through mid-August 2026 and OSB data through June-July 2026. The World Cup step-up in U.S. sports prediction market activity has proven substantial. On EKG’s Handle-Analog basis, U.S. sports PM activity reached $5.6bn in Jun-26, or 30% of combined PM-OSB handle, before remaining similarly strong at $6.0bn in July. Kalshi now ranks No. 3 in both consolidated U.S. handle and handle-per-adult productivity, behind only DraftKings and FanDuel in EKG’s proprietary framework. Competitive dynamics continue to broaden beneath the market leader. Kalshi remained the world’s largest tracked prediction market by Contract Volume for a third consecutive month, while Robinhood and Polymarket U.S. reached record volumes around the World Cup and Novig has debuted with meaningful early scale. Looking ahead, August has brought a normal post-World Cup slowdown, but U.S. football and European club soccer are now ramping, with promotional intensity already beginning to build ahead of the fall acquisition cycle. A central focus this month is the rapid emergence of combos as a critical sports PM battleground. Combos are approaching 50% of Kalshi sports Contract Volume, while the U.S. combo segment now represents roughly 37% of total U.S. prediction market Contract Volume. Kalshi currently commands 97% share of that segment, but Polymarket U.S., Novig, Underdog, and others are increasingly building around multi-leg products—making combo depth, pricing, and liquidity an increasingly important source of competitive differentiation. Additionally, we take a deeper look at what 2Q earnings say about the economics of prediction markets. Robinhood generated $156mm of PM revenue in 2Q26, Coinbase crossed $100mm of annualized PM revenue, and Flutter expects roughly $50mm of 2026 market-making revenue and EBITDA benefit. At the same time, there remains no consensus on the winning market structure: some operators are moving toward greater vertical integration, while others are emphasizing third-party exchanges, proprietary market-making, or multi-venue distribution. We’re also preparing to launch the PMI Databook Dashboard, EKG’s institutional-grade prediction markets data and competitive intelligence platform. Built on daily cross-platform data, common definitions, and a unified category / sport / league taxonomy, the Databook Dashboard enables deeper operator benchmarking, ongoing market monitoring, and exportable underlying data. Selected views are featured throughout this month’s Monitor as a preview of the platform. Other features of this month’s report: Market-maker channel checks and competitive intelligence Updated proprietary estimates of Contract Volume share by consumer-facing brand Updated policy outlook covering CFTC rulemaking, state taxation, Congress, and the evolving path toward potential Supreme Court review

2Q26 iLottery gross sales (wagers) increased +13% y/y and remained flat q/q at $3.6 billion. The annual increase was driven by eInstant and Draw growth across most markets and new market contributions. GGR benefited from wager growth y/y along with marginal increases in the mix of Draw games and hold rates both y/y and q/q. See the report for commentary on nationwide trends, analysis by jurisdiction, market share by platform provider, a legislative update regarding new potential jurisdictions, and our CY26 forecast.

Aristocrat led casino replacement sales this quarter, anchored by the Baron family, with Light & Wonder close behind on Cosmic strength. IGT held the lead in the overall route market, while Aristocrat claimed the top spot in key U.S. route markets including Illinois VGT and Georgia COAM. The premium lease market extended its growth, led by Aristocrat's Monopoly Big Board Bucks launch and Lightning 10 Year Storm, with Light & Wonder's Ultimate Fire Link Triple Nova building momentum behind them. Multiscreen cabinets staged a comeback, taking four of the top ten cabinet slots. Bluberi held most of its recent share gains, with Beacon+ again a top ten seller — the only vendor outside the Big 3 to place a cabinet in the top ten. Full replacement share, route market results by jurisdiction, and complete top ten cabinet rankings are in this quarter's report.