What is the Handle in sports betting?

The Handle in sports betting refers to the amount of dollars wagered that a sportsbook or a casino has accepted from its bettors. The term handle can be used generally “the sportsbook took in 1M in total handle on January 19th…” but is most often used about a specific game or market. 

Sportsbooks often release “handle breakdowns” on specific games for the public to view. This data usually shows how much of the overall handle (amount of money wagered) from a percentage point is on either team. 

So, if there is an NFL primetime game between the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs an online sportsbook might release handle % information to indicate how much of the total dollars wagered was on Dallas or Kansas City City moneyline and Dallas or Kansas City against the spread. Oftentimes, handle percentages are included alongside ticket percentages (number of overall bets on a side). 

The above is a hypothetical handle and bet percentage breakdown of an against-the-spread (ATS) wager. This shows that while more total bets were placed on the Cowboys +3.5, more total money, or handle, was still wagered on the Chiefs -3.5.

How to use the handle in sports betting

In the above example, the Chiefs took in far fewer bets but the total handle on Kansas City still ended up being higher than the handle on the Cowboys. This kind of action can often signify that “sharp money” is on the Chiefs at the current line. That’s because sharp or more experienced bettors are often making larger wagers compared to less experienced or “public” bettors. 

This type of breakdown and discrepancy between tickets and handle can also lead to reverse line movement, which is also often a good indication of which side the sharper money is going towards. Reverse line movement is often a term used in NFL betting but can apply to other sports like the NBA as well. 

The false handle in sports betting

Oftentimes, we can also have situations where the total handle on one side will be lower, but the amount of dollars, per bet, will be much higher. 

These kinds of situations can often be referred to as “false handles” since the handle is not necessarily an indication of where the sharper money is actually headed.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) catches a 22 yard touchdown pass against the Bills. Photo Credit: Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

In the above example, the handle alone is not telling us where the sharper bets are actually going since the dollars per wager on the Chiefs is much higher, suggesting that is the team receiving sharper bets (and not the Cowboys who have received a higher percentage of the handle, but far more smaller bets). 

Assuming $100,000 total handle from 100 total bets

• $60,000 handle on Cowboys (75 bets) = $800.00 average wager
• $40,000 handle on Chiefs  (25 bets) = $1600.00 average wager

Hence, when looking at handle percentage it is always a good idea to view it alongside ticket percentage. This can help you avoid false handle situations and see where the sharper money is actually headed. 

Can knowing the amount of handle on a side or bet help bettors?

Handle can be useful for sports bettors from the view that people who make bigger wagers are often sharper bettors. Hence, when there is more money wagered on one side that can be an indication that there is an edge in taking that side. However, the handle is only one piece of the puzzle. 

As mentioned above, total bets (the number of bets made on a side) is an important metric to watch alongside sports betting handle when looking at data from online sportsbooks. If a side has a smaller handle, but has received larger wagers (bigger average wager), then that side is, more times than not, the one attracting the sharp money. 

Since bigger wagers tend to be an indication of “sharp action” then oftentimes this can be an indication that one side is potentially the sharper side to be wagering on. 

However, as sports bettors, it’s also important to understand that if you are using sports betting handle information to guide you also need to be wary of the current odds. For example, if sharp sports bettors got their money down on a game at -3.0 (-110) and, by the time you go to make your bet the side has moved to -3.5 (-115), chasing that bet may not provide you with an edge at those updated odds. 

The handle and bet percentages can be a piece of puzzle in determining where you want to place your bets but rarely should you let it guide you completely.

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What does handle mean in sports betting?

The handle is not the amount of revenue that a betting site or casino has earned but rather the amount of wagers that a sportsbook has taken in. It represents the amount of overall dollars wagered that they have accepted either on a single event, or over a specific period of time.

The bigger the handle for a sportsbook on a single game, the bigger the potential liability a sportsbook may have. That’s because, with any bet, there is the potential for all of the action to be one-sided. When sports bettors wager far more money on one side than another, that means that one outcome dominates the handle and makes sportsbooks liable for more payouts (than they have taken in the overall handle) should that outcome hit.

What's the difference between betting handle and betting hold?

This is why sportsbooks often try to balance the sports betting handle or action they are taking on a bet. Sportsbooks ultimately profit by charging vig (a fee or commission attached to every bet). Vig is also known as the betting hold, or the percentage of profit a sportsbook is taking off of every bet.

If a sportsbook is taking too much lopsided action they can be liable for big losses which erases the edge the hold creates. By balancing the handle on either side of a bet a sportsbook guarantees themselves a profit by way of the hold they charge. 

How does a sportsbook earn revenue?

Simplistically, casinos and online sportsbooks earn money by accepting wagers on games or events in leagues the NFL, MLB or the NBA. When they accept these bets they charge a vig (or hold) alongside those wagers, and then aim to pay out less in overall winnings then the amount of handle + hold they took in.

So if the handle + the hold for a specific bet is X and the amount a sportsbook has to payout once that bet is complete is Y then a sportsbook profits when the total sum of X-Y, (aka Z), is positive

• X (handle) - Y (payouts) = Z (revenue)

If Z is negative then a sportsbook has lost money by accepting bets on a specific wager.

Sportsbook betting revenue explained

As mentioned above, sportsbooks are able to profit off most bets they offer thanks to the hold or vig (fee or commission attached to every bet). However, to maintain the edge that the vig creates balancing the handle on bets is vital and important to the stability of their revenue. 

In order to ensure that the overall sports betting handle on either side of a bet or game is balanced, sportsbooks will often move odds (sometimes dramatically) so that they can make the side that has taken in less handle more attractive to sports bettors. 

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has an open area to move about as he looks for a receiver during the first half of the Bills divisional game against Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 21, 2024. Photo Credit: Tina MacIntyre-Yee /Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

When you see a line or odds move dramatically, it's almost always an indication that a sportsbook has taken a majority of the handle on the side whose odds have shortened, or in the case of a prop bet, on the side where the total is now moving towards.

For example, if the total on Patrick Mahomes’s passing yards for a game were to open at 265.5 yards but close at 272.5 yards, that means the movement was to discourage action on the over, which also suggests that the handle was heavily weighted to that side.

What's the difference between handle and revenue for a sportsbook?

Revenue is the profit that a betting site realizes after paying out wagers on a bet. Handle is the amount of wagers a betting site takes on a single bet or game. 

Handle is not necessarily representative of future revenue for a sportsbook, but if a sportsbook can consistently balance action then more handle (more money wagered) will lead to more revenue. 

Well-run casinos and online sportsbooks, in general, will profit more when they take in more handle since more handle means more bets, and more bets means the sportsbook gets to charge more vig. 

How much revenue does a sportsbook generate?

In 2022 sports betting apps brought in 7.4 Billion dollars in revenue. 

In Q3 of 2023 DraftKings Sportsbook, one of the United States' largest online operators reported total company-wide revenue of 790M.

Stadium seating and a mega-sized screen at the new MGM Northfield Park Sportsbook area in Northfield on Thursday. Sportsbook 1 Photo Credit: Mike Cardew / USA TODAY NETWORK

Other online sportsbooks like Fanduel Sportsbook (3.23 Billion in revenue in 2022) have had similar success. 

Now that sports betting is legal in over 30 states including Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and Massachusetts these companies continue to show record profits. 

Overall, revenue will vary tremendously from sportsbook to Sportsbook, based on factors like app functionality, advertising, hold percentage and state eligibility. However, sports betting revenue has risen tremendously, year over year, over the past decade and is expected to do so in the near future. 

How would a 1% integrity fee affect revenue?

Integrity fees are a kind of tax that is often requested from a major sporting league or state. These fees have been requested to be paid by the sportsbooks (such as BetMGM, DraftKings, and Caesars Sportsbook) for the main purpose of helping monitor and maintain the integrity of the sporting leagues (such as the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA or NCAA college football) that sportsbooks offer wagers on. The goal is to help keep the leagues free from corruption as gambling becomes more widespread.

This integrity fee has also been referred to as a “royalty”  by some. Since major sporting leagues provide the games and events upon which sportsbooks make their profit it is thought by some that these leagues should be entitled to some kind of fee or kickback from the sportsbooks.  

A 1% integrity fee may not sound like much but given that sportsbooks often have very thin margins giving away 1% of their overall sports betting handle can cut into their bottomline and revenue by as much as 25%. 

Which events have the biggest handles?

• FIFA World Cup: An estimated 2B per match was wagered in 2018 Russian world cup. 
• UEFA Champions League: generates betting volume of over 13B every year
• The Super Bowl: estimated 16B bet on Super Bowl in 2023
• The World Series: one bettor lost 7.9M in bets on 2023 World Series
• March Madness: estimated 15.5B bet on March Madness in 2023
• Kentucky Derby: over 391M bet on horse racing at 2023 Kentucky Derby