DraftKings revenue surges in Oregon in September
Despite a modest decline in handle, DraftKings posted a massive increase in revenue in Oregon during September. DraftKings is the sole online sports betting provider in the state.
Winnings for DraftKings were US$9.6 million, a 59.8% surge. Handle slipped 4.9% to US$83.1 million. That translated to a hold of 11.5%.
The handle decline was predominantly related to football, where it dropped 25.2%. Deutsche Bank analyst Steven Pizzella ascribed this to “calendar-related timing shifts,” in an 8 October investor note.
Exclusive of football, handle was up 7.5% overall. Oregonian hold percentages also compared favorably to those in New York State, where books held at a below-average 6.6% during the four weeks ending on 27 September.
The most revenue, US$5.9 million, was derived from parlay bets. That was a 120.7% spike from September 2025. Parlay handle down 3.9%, however, to US$32.2 million, as parlay wagers held at 18.3%.
Single bets comprised US$3.7 million in revenue, holding at 7.3%. They were up 11.2% as revenue but down 5.5% in handle, comprising wagers of US$50.9 million.
Although football handle fell sharply, it narrowly led as a share of total wagering, some 29.9%. Baseball was next-strongest at 26.2%, a 6% hop, while table tennis slumped 8.4% to 12.7% of handle.
Football saw 14% hold, for US$3.5 million in win on US$24.9 million in betting volume. Baseball bets totaled US$21.7 million and win was US$2.6 million, on hold of 11.9%.
In terms of revenue, table tennis edged soccer, US$1 million to US$900,000. Table tennis wagers numbered US$10.6 million, holding at 9.2%. Soccer held at 10.8% on handle of US$8.7 million.
Full-fledged tennis generated US$600,000 in win. Handle was US$7.3 million, holding at 8.1%. Basketball generated US$500,000 in revenue off handle of US$5.1 million, for hold of 9%.
All other sports combined for win on the order of US$500,000 from US$4.8 million in handle. They held at an average of 11.4%.
David McKee is an award-winning journalist who has three decades of experience covering the gaming industry.
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The Backstory
Oregon’s single-operator model magnifies monthly swings
Oregon’s September sports betting results landed in a market where one operator defines the statewide trend. DraftKings is the only online sports betting provider in Oregon, so changes in hold, product mix and sports calendar flow directly into the state’s reported online performance without the smoothing effect of multiple competing books.
That structure helps explain why September could produce a sharp revenue gain even as handle slipped. DraftKings’ US$9.6 million in monthly win was driven less by broader betting growth than by stronger margins, particularly on parlays and football. The result extended a pattern seen throughout 2026: Oregon’s sports betting market has not moved in a straight line, but revenue has been highly sensitive to whether customers are leaning into high-hold bet types and whether major sports produce favorable results for the house.
The September hold of 11.5% was stronger than many larger competitive markets and materially better than the sub-7% rate reported in New York for a comparable late-September period. In Oregon, a small change in hold can meaningfully shift revenue because DraftKings controls the entire online channel. That makes the state a useful case study in how market design, betting preferences and sports scheduling combine to shape monthly tax and operator outcomes.
Parlays have carried the revenue story
The biggest through line in Oregon this year has been the role of parlays. September’s US$5.9 million in parlay revenue accounted for most of DraftKings’ win, even though parlay handle declined to US$32.2 million. The 18.3% parlay hold was well above the return on single-event wagers and reinforced why operators prize the format.
That was not an isolated result. In March, DraftKings generated US$4.9 million from parlays, with the bet type representing 36% of handle and holding at 18.2%, according to earlier Oregon sports betting data. The same dynamic appeared in April, when parlays produced US$6.8 million in winnings on US$28.8 million in handle and held at 23.5%, helping lift statewide online revenue to US$10.6 million.
May underscored the same point from a different angle. Even as total handle and win declined, DraftKings held 24.4% on parlay bets, generating US$6.5 million from that category alone. July then brought another strong parlay month, with the book holding 23.2% as overall revenue rose to US$12.4 million. By September, parlay handle had softened, but customer losses on multi-leg wagers still created the majority of statewide win.
The causality is straightforward. Parlays offer bettors higher potential payouts but lower probabilities of success. For the operator, that typically means a larger margin than straight bets. In a monopoly market such as Oregon, where there is no rival operator to split customers or pressure promotions as directly, the influence of parlay mix on statewide revenue is especially visible.
The sports calendar keeps reshaping handle
Oregon’s monthly reports also show how quickly handle can rotate by sport. Basketball dominated March, with US$37.4 million in wagers, then remained the largest category in April with US$31.6 million. As spring moved into summer, baseball took a larger share, and by August it represented 36.1% of betting activity.
September brought football back into the mix, though not with the straightforward handle boost often associated with the NFL and college football seasons. Football still narrowly led all sports at 29.9% of Oregon wagering, but football handle fell 25.2% from the prior-year period. Deutsche Bank analyst Steven Pizzella attributed that decline to calendar-related timing shifts, suggesting the comparison may have been affected by when games fell within the reporting period rather than by weaker underlying demand.
The months before September had already shown how major events can distort the market. In July, wagering on soccer surged 421.9% and reached 30% of handle as international play carried momentum from June. That month, DraftKings’ Oregon revenue vaulted 84.5%, aided by a stronger soccer hold after a softer June. Soccer’s influence faded by September, when it generated US$900,000 in win on US$8.7 million in handle, but the earlier jump demonstrated how one sport can drive the whole market when event timing and hold align.
Baseball provided a steadier bridge across the summer. It led handle in August, when Oregon online sports betting revenue rose only slightly despite a nearly 20% increase in handle. In September, baseball remained second by handle share, at 26.2%, and produced US$2.6 million in revenue on an 11.9% hold. That kept the month from depending solely on football or parlays.
Table tennis became more than a pandemic-era curiosity
Oregon’s results continue to feature table tennis at levels that stand out in U.S. sports betting. The sport accounted for 12.7% of September handle, behind football and baseball but ahead of soccer, tennis and basketball. DraftKings won US$1 million from table tennis wagers, slightly more than it made from soccer.
This has been developing for months. In April, table tennis helped power a 10.7% revenue increase as wagers on the sport jumped 125.4% and reached 19% of all bets placed. In May, table tennis handle rose 24.9% and represented 14% of wagering, even as overall market activity declined. By August, it was second only to baseball, with 17.9% of handle.
The persistence of table tennis matters because it diversifies Oregon’s handle away from the largest U.S. sports leagues. Table tennis is available across time slots that do not always overlap with marquee U.S. games, giving bettors more continuous inventory and the operator more opportunities to generate turnover. Its margins have varied, but the volume has been durable enough to affect monthly statewide outcomes.
September’s table tennis share declined from some earlier months, but it remained a meaningful revenue contributor. That is important for a market facing calendar transitions. When football underperforms on handle or basketball is out of season, secondary sports can cushion activity, especially if they hold near or above the market average.
High hold, not just high handle, sets the stakes
The arc from March through September shows that Oregon’s sports betting performance is less about handle alone than about the hold attached to that handle. March revenue rose 14.4% on an 11.1% hold. April revenue climbed with a 12.3% hold. May revenue declined despite a higher 12.6% hold because handle fell and some year-over-year comparisons weakened. July delivered the strongest recent result, with a 14.9% hold and broad handle growth. August showed the opposite tension: handle surged 19.5%, but revenue rose just 1.1% as hold settled at 10%.
September fits within that pattern. Handle declined 4.9%, but the 11.5% hold was enough to drive a 59.8% revenue increase. Parlays did much of the work, while football, baseball and table tennis each produced material win. The report therefore says more about profitability per dollar wagered than about explosive customer growth.
For Oregon, the stakes are fiscal and structural. A single-provider model can deliver clean statewide reporting and concentrated revenue, but it also leaves results exposed to one operator’s customer mix and the volatility of sports outcomes. For DraftKings, Oregon remains a market where pricing, parlay adoption and cross-sport engagement can quickly turn modest handle into outsized revenue. September was the latest reminder that in sports betting, the money wagered is only half the story; the amount retained is what shapes the month.
