U.S. Sports Betting Policy Monitor – Aug. 2026

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 our 50 state legislative outlook; quick takes on the latest sports betting policy developments in Texas, Minnesota, and Georgia, and an analysis of a legal challenge to Wisconsin's OSB via compact model.

In this 50-page report, exclusively available to Enterprise Tier subscribers, we use our proprietary methodology and nationwide testing group to test, score, and rank the performance of U.S. casino apps. In our latest round of testing—conducted across the core markets of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan late in 1H26—DraftKings retained their top ranking while Hard Rock Bet jumped to #2, their first top-5 finish ever. FanDuel and Fanatics maintain their third and fourth place rankings, respectively, while Golden Nugget slipped to fifth.

In 2Q26, total U.S. lottery sales increased +1% y/y and +1% q/q to $26.4 billion across the 46 U.S. jurisdictions we track in our report. Instant Tickets sales increased +1% y/y and +1% q/q to $19.0 billion with growth driven by iLottery sales. Retail Instant Ticket sales declined -1% y/y but increased +1% q/q, which was modestly ahead of the average trend of relative stable sales q/q in 2Q. Draw game wagers increased by +1% y/y and +2% q/q to $7.4 billion. See the report for results and commentary for the full year as well as analysis by main product type and our CY26 forecast.