Maryland Lottery and Gaming reported $536.7 million in sports betting handle for March on Wednesday as FanDuel outperformed its mobile counterparts by a sizable margin.
Handle was up 39.1% compared to the $386 million wagered in March 2023, the first year sports betting apps were available in the Old Line State while the NCAA Tournament was played.
It was the fourth-highest handle in 28 months of legal betting in Maryland and also the fourth time in the last five months wagering surpassed $500 million. March’s action was also 21.3% higher compared to February as year-to-date handle topped $1.5 billion.
The $45.1 million in gross operator sports betting revenue, however, was down 5.1% year-over-year. The 8.4% hold was nearly four full percentage points lower and marked the first time the win rate on gross revenue was under 10% in back-to-back months.
The state levied its 15% tax on $32.4 million in adjusted gross revenue, resulting in an inflow of $4.9 million into its coffers.
The $115.4 million in AGR for the first quarter of 2024 was up 69.4% compared to the first three months of last year, due in large part to many operators climbing out of deficits in early 2023 they created with heavy promotional spending shortly after mobile betting launched in late November 2022.
Maryland, which became the 14th state to surpass $7 billion in all-time handle, also cleared $70 million in total tax revenue since its launch in December 2021.
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A record handle and another 10%-plus hold for FanDuel
Running MARCH Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $1.85B
2 MARYLAND $536.7M
3 Iowa $272.4M
4 Oregon $69.4M
5 West Va $52.1M
6 Montana $6.59M
7 TBD
8 TBD
9 TBD
10 TBD#SportsBettingX #GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) April 10, 2024
After narrowly missing out on bettering its all-time state high for handle in January, FanDuel accomplished that feat in March by accepting $247.8 million worth of wagers. It crafted a 10.7% hold — the 16th time in 17 months FanDuel attained a double-digit win rate — in keeping $26.5 million in gross revenue.
The online juggernaut also showed it still has deep pockets. FanDuel had a $6.3 million outlay of promotional credits and bonuses, accounting for more than half of the $10.8 million spend by the state’s 12 mobile operators. March’s numbers pushed FanDuel over $3 billion in total handle and $400 million in gross winnings.
DraftKings extended its run of months with $10 million or more gross revenue to seven after collecting $11.5 million from the $155.1 million handle and notching a 7.4% hold. Year-over-year revenue, however, was down 10.4% with the win rate down 2.7 percentage points.
BetMGM grabbed the final podium spots for revenue and handle with $2.9 million and $42.8 million, respectively, attaining a 6.8% hold. It did not report any promotional spend in March, the first time BetMGM opted to keep its powder dry after lavishing $36.7 million worth of credits and bonuses on the public since entering Maryland.
ESPN BET also did not report any promotional spend for March as it continued whittling away at its negative adjusted gross revenue. Its 1.5% hold against $32 million handle resulted in $492,258 in gross revenue, and ESPN BET has an AGR total of minus-$8.4 million thanks to a $21.2 million promotional outlay since entering the Old Line State in mid-November.
Caesars narrowly cleared $1 million in revenue, doing so by $11,903, but March was the fourth time in the last five months it posted a hold below 5.6%. It finished with a 4.7% win rate against $21.4 million worth of wagers, moving its all-time handle with $62,000 of $300 million.
Fanatics Sportsbook also had some success lowering its AGR deficit in March, lowering its total to minus-$2.5 million after claiming $917,149 in gross revenue. Fanatics had a 6.5% hold from a $14.1 million handle, the seventh consecutive month it reached eight figures.
Parlays provide bulk of operator revenue
Maryland Lottery’s category-specific breakouts showed more than two-thirds of all operator gross revenue — $30.5 million — came via parlays. The house had a healthy 16.9% hold on $181.1 million worth of the multi-leg bets, which represented 33.7% of the total handle for March.
That put the hold for single-event wagering at just under 4%.
Pro basketball wagering provided the largest chunk of operator winnings at $5.6 million, with the hold at 3.5% from the $160 million handle. College basketball ranked second at $2.7 million, with operators crafting a 3.2% win rate from the $83.7 million handle.
The catch-all “other” category, which is specific to Maryland, includes auto racing, boxing, and MMA among others, provided $2.2 million in operator winnings. The house had a 6.6% hold on $32.9 million handle from those wagers. Tennis was the only other sport that provided a seven-figure payout to the house as it collected $2.1 million in winnings from $29 million worth of bets placed — good for a 7.4% win rate.
Revenue from soccer and hockey totaled close to $1.2 million from $31.3 million wagered. Baseball winnings totaled $920,462 from a $13.8 million handle as bettors pondered whether the Baltimore Orioles could repeat as AL East champions.
The public won $98,300 on top of the $4.2 million worth of golf bets placed, while some bettors were still cashing winning college football futures — operators paid out $124,312 more than the $7,186 handle generated.
