Betting Handle Explained

In the sportsbook industry, the term betting handle refers to the total amount of money wagered by bettors on a specific game, sport, event or time period.

The handle doesn’t represent the sportsbook’s profit, but rather the value of their customers’ combined bets for a particular sporting event.

Alongside being a crucial metric for the bookmakers themselves, the handle is also a useful tool for any bettors looking to gain an edge. In this betting guide, we’ll explain how everything works and how you can use the handle to your advantage.

What is the Handle in Sports Betting?

The handle in betting (commonly shortened to “the handle) is the total sum of all wagers across a sportsbook (or entire sports betting industry) on a particular game, event, sport or even timeframe.

It’s important to note that it represents the overall volume of bets placed and not the profit the sportsbook (or industry) makes. The handle includes every dollar wagers before any payouts after the event finishes.

For example, if bettors collectively wagered $150m on a major football game in the NFL, that figure would be the handle for that event. The total includes all wager types placed on the game including, point spreads, moneyline bets, over/unders, player props, parlays, futures and novelty markets.

The total handle on the 2025 Super Bowl between Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, for instance, was circa $1.39 billion.

Really, the betting handle meaning is relatively straightforward. It measures the total money (gross revenue) flowing from customers into the betting market.  Next, we’ll get into how the handle is worked out.

How is a Sports Betting Handle Calculated?

Calculating the handle for an event is simple enough and involves adding up every single accepted wager on a given market. This includes:

• All bets placed at physical sportsbooks (retail betting).
• Every wager made through online sportsbooks and mobile sports betting apps.
• All bet types: straight bets, parlays, teasers, props, futures bets and live/in-play wagers.

Sportsbooks and the best betting sites report the handle figures on a regular basis to state regulators. These reports combine retail and online/mobile wagering activity to produce the total sports betting handle for a market or event.

Companies also use the sports betting figures for promotion purposes too, to create a “buzz” around events or upcoming games/fixtures.

Take a look at this example:

If 5,000 bettors each place $100 on an NBA game and another 500 high-stakes players wager $1,000 each, the handle total would be calculated as follows:

(5,000 × $100) + (500 × $1,000) = $500,000 + $500,000 = $1,000,000 total NBA betting handle

You could work out the total MLB betting handle in a similar way for a World Series contest.

Online sportsbooks then track the hold percentage (net revenue divided by handle) to measure profitability. Generally, a healthy hold percentage would usually fall between 5% and 10%, depending on the sport and bet types involved.

Sports Events with the Biggest Betting Handles

Some sporting events consistently generate the largest handle sports betting numbers in the industry. These marquee occasions on the calendar guarantee massive public interest, which in turn drives betting volumes on mobile sportsbooks to lofty heights.

The growth in popularity of sports betting in the US over the past decade means that new handle betting records are being set all the time. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the sports events that provoke the most market action.

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl remains the single biggest betting event in the United States and its popularity is unparalleled. It consistently delivers the highest NFL betting handle of the year, with millions of casual and more serious bettors participating in the deluge at betting operators.

From mainstream lines like winner and final score to niche markets like the winner of the coin toss and other novelty picks, every aspect of the game attracts attention and action.  The total handle for football’s annual climactic contest often clears a one-billion-dollar hurdle.

FIFA World Cup

International soccer’s World Cup, held every four years, is a global betting phenomenon and the tournament generates enormous wagering volumes worldwide.

With the United States set to co-host the 2026 edition of the famous competition, the handle is expected to shatter previous records as more American sports bettors gain easier access to legal sports wagering. Some estimates suggested that upwards of $1.8b was staked on the 2022 World Cup by American punters alone.

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is an American Grade I stakes race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville and is easily the country’s most famous horse race.

It also serves as one of the biggest single-day wagering sports events for horse racing betting sites in the country. Bettors pour money into win, place, show, exacta, trifecta and even superfecta wagers.

The race often produces an online betting handle in the hundreds of millions, making it a lucrative date on the horse racing calendar. Indeed, the handle for the 2025 edition hovered around the $234.4 million mark.

March Madness

The NCAA March Madness tournament is a bracket-filling, bet-busting extravaganza that is greeted giddily by betting enthusiasts each year.

Spanning several weeks, the college basketball competition is known for generating billions ($3.1b in 2025) in total sports betting handle as fans and sharps alike wager on upsets, totals and prop markets.

It’s typically unpredictable, making it tricky to make accurate betting decisions, and the massive public participation makes it one of the industry’s top wagering events every spring.

Why the Public Betting Handle Matters

The handle is an important piece of data for several reasons. First, online sportsbooks use the figures to monitor betting splits (the % of the handle on each side of the wager) to manage risk and adjust their lines accordingly.

When public betting trends result in support for one side, oddsmakers may need to shift the line to attract action on the opposite side to create a more balanced book. The direction of flow is constantly and closely analyzed by sportsbooks to create actionable insights. Sportsbook revenue has tight ties to the handle.

Tracking the total sports betting handle versus “sharp” or professional money can also reveal valuable betting patterns. For instance, if 75% of the handle percentage betting is on the favorite, but only 30% of the bets (tickets) are on that side, it could mean that a lot of pro money is siding with the underdog, in a classic reverse line movement signal.

Why Do Handles in Online Sports Betting Grow?

Handles in online sports wagering continue to swell rapidly due in part to the widespread state-by-state legalization of gambling, improved technology and greater overall consumer access to markets.

The 2018 Supreme Court decision that struck down the federal ban on sports betting was a pivotal regulatory shift and dozens of states have legalized sports wagering since, leading to a boom cycle for online sports betting, offshore sports betting platforms, mobile betting apps and, of course, the tax revenue coffers.

Convenience also plays an integral role here. With online sportsbook apps common, it’s never been easier to place wagers with the best sports betting sites from home, during games or even while in attendance at live events.

Promotions, boosted betting odds and the breadth of live bet options all work to fuel further participation, driving handle betting figures skyward.

As sports wagering rules soften and more and more states and regions open up to the markets, the handle and overall sports betting revenue across the USA will climb ever higher over the coming years.

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