MLB Prop Market Trends: Betting Handle and Growth
Available in US
MLB Player Prop Market Growth and Handle
When I started focusing on MLB props nine years ago, player proposition wagers were an afterthought — a niche product tucked into a corner of the sportsbook menu, overshadowed by moneylines, run lines and totals. That landscape has inverted completely. Player props now sit at the centre of the sports-betting ecosystem, driving engagement, revenue and product innovation in ways that would have seemed absurd a decade ago.
Max Bichsel, an executive at the Gambling.com Group, described the convergence of media, technology and wagering as a once-in-a-lifetime event — very rarely do you see these worlds collide in any industry, let alone all at the same time. He was talking about the broader sports-betting boom, but the point applies with particular force to player props, which sit at the exact intersection of those three forces. Media coverage increasingly focuses on individual player performance. Technology enables real-time data tracking and in-play wagering. And player props transform that individual focus into a betting product that generates enormous handle.
The US sports-betting market reached 16.96 billion dollars in revenue in 2025 — a record. Americans legally wagered 166.94 billion dollars on sports that year, an 11% increase over 2024. Since the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018, more than 600 billion dollars has been wagered legally in the United States. Those headline numbers include all sports and all bet types, but player props — and MLB props within them — are growing faster than the market as a whole.
US Betting Handle and Revenue Trajectory
The growth curve of US sports betting is steep and shows no sign of flattening. The total legal handle in 2024 was 142.55 billion dollars, which was itself a record at the time. By 2025, that figure had risen to 166.94 billion. The compounding annual growth rate has been in double digits since legalisation began, and forecasts project the market reaching between 26 and 27 billion dollars in annual revenue by the early 2030s.
Multiple research firms have modelled the trajectory. IMARC Group values the 2025 US sports-betting market at 10.70 billion dollars with a projected increase to 27.42 billion by 2034 at a compound annual growth rate of 11.02%. Statista forecasts 2025 revenue at 18.51 billion, growing to 26.04 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 7.07%. The variation between estimates reflects different methodological assumptions, but the directional consensus is clear: the market is large, growing and far from saturated.
Sports betting is now legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Mobile betting accounts for 80-90% of all wagers in states with online options, and the number of active users is projected to reach 61 million by 2030. The market’s penetration rate — the share of the adult population that bets — is forecast to rise from 13.4% to 17.2% over the same period. Every new user, every new state and every new product innovation feeds the growth engine.
Player Props as the Fastest-Growing Segment
Within the broader betting market, player props are the segment growing most aggressively, and the data is unambiguous.
Tom Daniel, SVP of Trading at Huddle, has published data showing that six of the top seven most popular same-game parlay markets are focused on individual player performances. Player props represent approximately 70-75% of all bets placed in the SGP category, which is itself the fastest-growing product type in the industry. When 88% of pre-match bet builders on the Super Bowl contained a player prop — a figure from Kambi’s 2025 trends report — the dominance of individual-performance wagering is no longer a trend. It is the structural reality of the market.
Karl Danzer of Sportradar identified the driver: it is easier to convert someone to sports betting if they are following a player. The shift from team-based fandom to player-based fandom — accelerated by social media, fantasy sports and streaming — has created a generation of fans whose engagement is organised around individuals rather than clubs. Player props are the natural betting product for that audience, because they allow the fan to express a view about the specific player they follow rather than about the team outcome they may not care about.
The revenue implications are significant. Parlays — most of which now contain player props — account for a disproportionate share of operator revenue relative to their handle. The hold rate on same-game parlays ranges from 20-35%, compared to roughly 4.5% on standard single bets. That margin differential makes prop-heavy parlays the most profitable product in the sportsbook’s portfolio, which in turn incentivises operators to invest in better prop pricing, wider market coverage and more sophisticated in-play offerings. The flywheel feeds itself: better products attract more bettors, more bettors generate more handle, more handle funds better technology, and better technology produces better products.
UK Market Perspective and MLB Availability
The UK market is structurally different from the US, but the trends point in a similar direction for MLB prop availability.
MLB has made deliberate moves toward global expansion, staging regular-season games in London, Seoul and Mexico City. International markets account for an estimated 10-15% of the league’s total revenue, primarily through broadcasting rights and merchandise. The London Series games have been particularly important for building a UK audience, and a growing UK fan base translates into a growing UK betting market for MLB props.
Approximately 47% of UK adults participate in some form of gambling, and 21% bet online. MLB’s share of that activity is small but increasing. UK sportsbooks that five years ago offered only match-result and run-line markets for baseball have progressively added pitcher strikeout props, hitter props, totals and — on some platforms — more exotic markets like stolen bases and walks issued. The trend mirrors the US experience, delayed by a few years and scaled down to reflect the smaller UK baseball audience.
The regulatory environment creates both constraints and opportunities. The Gambling Commission’s framework ensures that MLB prop markets offered in the UK meet strict standards for market integrity, consumer protection and responsible gambling. Those standards may limit the speed at which UK operators expand their MLB prop offerings, but they also ensure that the markets available are well-regulated and trustworthy — a non-trivial advantage for bettors who value market integrity.
For UK prop bettors, the growth trajectory is encouraging. More games, more markets, more competition among operators and more data availability all point toward an expanding opportunity set. The challenge is to grow with the market rather than be consumed by it — maintaining the analytical discipline, bankroll management and responsible-gambling awareness that separate the 3-5% of profitable bettors from the rest. The numbers are impressive. The opportunity is real. And the foundation for capturing it is the same as it has always been: data, process and restraint — the principles that underpin every guide on this site.
How large is the US sports betting market and what share do prop bets represent?
The US sports-betting market generated 16.96 billion dollars in revenue in 2025, with 166.94 billion dollars wagered legally. Player props represent approximately 70-75% of all same-game parlay bets, and SGPs generate a disproportionate share of operator revenue due to hold rates of 20-35%. The exact handle share attributable to player props across all bet types is not publicly reported, but the segment is growing faster than the overall market.
Is MLB prop bet availability increasing on UK sportsbooks?
Yes. UK sportsbooks have progressively expanded their MLB prop offerings over the past five years, moving from match-result-only markets to include pitcher strikeout props, hitter props and, on some platforms, niche markets like stolen bases and walks issued. The expansion is driven by growing UK interest in MLB — partly fuelled by the London Series — and by the global trend toward player-focused betting products. Availability varies by operator, with larger internationally focused sportsbooks offering the widest range.
Prepared by the mlb bet Props editorial staff.
