Barclays published its state-level gaming revenue tracker for May 2026, showing a mixed picture across retail and digital channels.
At the state level, New Jersey's retail gross gaming revenue (GGR) was essentially unchanged year-over-year in May, a slowdown from 12% growth in April and 3% growth in March. Indiana recorded a 1% year-over-year decline in May GGR, following a 5% increase in April and a 6% decline in March. Aggregating the states reported so far, retail GGR rose 2% year-over-year, or 1% on a same-store basis.
Company-level retail results in New Jersey and Indiana show divergent trends. In New Jersey, MGM Resorts International reported flat May GGR compared with the prior year, after posting 14% growth in April. Caesars Entertainment saw a 5% decline in May versus 11% growth in April.
In Indiana, several operators recorded positive retail GGR performance in May: Penn Entertainment rose 7%, Boyd Gaming gained 6%, and Churchill Downs increased 3%. Caesars' Indiana retail GGR fell 3% in May.
Digital sports betting activity weakened in May. Barclays' tracker showed digital betting handle essentially flat month-over-month while digital gross gaming revenue declined 4% for the month.
Operator-level digital figures were weaker across most major brands. BetMGM was down 5% in both handle and revenue. DraftKings experienced a 5% decline in handle and a larger 15% drop in revenue. Flutter reported a 7% reduction in handle and an 11% decline in revenue. Caesars saw handle fall 7% and revenue drop 12%. Penn experienced the largest decreases among those listed, with handle down 25% and revenue down 34%.
Barclays also reported reported hold rates for May across major operators: Flutter held at 13.2%, Penn at 9.9%, DraftKings at 9.8%, BetMGM at 9.6%, and Caesars at 7.8%.
These figures present a contrast between relatively stable retail activity in some jurisdictions and pronounced softness in the digital sports betting channel for many operators during May 2026.