The Ohio Casino Control Commission and Ohio Lottery reported a combined $809.3 million in sports betting handle for March, likely earning the Buckeye State a top-five status for the month.
Ohio edged out Pennsylvania to move into the No. 3 spot provisionally, with only Illinois likely to bump them from a top-three status among states yet to report March figures. It was the second time in the first three months of 2024 the Buckeye State had a higher handle than Nevada, which slipped to fifth at $785.3 million.
Handle was up 9.6% compared to last March and marked the fifth time in 15 months it crested $800 million. It also moved the all-time handle to $33.9 million shy of $10 billion.
Despite a solid 7.9% hold for all sources of sports betting, the $64 million in adjusted gross revenue was down 32.9% from March 2023 as operators saw their win rate tumble by five full percentage points. The $245.1 million in winnings is down 36.7% largely because sportsbooks couldn’t match their sky-high start from last year — though the year-to-date hold is 10.7%, which is still 4.9 percentage points lower than 2023.
The state claimed $12.8 million in taxes from its 20% tax rate, and the $49.1 million collected in the first quarter of 2024 was $10.3 million higher than the same period last year. The rate at that time was 10% prior to Gov. Mike DeWine doubling it to 20% at the start of this fiscal year last July. More than 69% of the $185.9 million in state tax revenue generated from sports betting has come in the nine months since DeWine increased the rate.
Bet365 keeps hold on No. 3 spot for handle
Running March #SportsBetting handle by state:
1 New York $1.85B
2 New Jersey $1.33B
3 OHIO $809.3M
4 Penn. $800.7M
5 Nevada $785.3M
6 N.C. $659.3M
7 Mass. $654.9M
8 Maryland $536.7M
9 Indiana $500.8M
10 Michigan $497.6M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) April 30, 2024
The start of 2024 saw ESPN BET as a prime contender to be at the top of the second tier of operators — in a group with bet365 and BetMGM — behind DraftKings and FanDuel. The trio operated within a $3.8 million band for February handle as bet365 claimed the No. 3 spot, and the England-based sports betting app — along with BetMGM — gained market share at the expense of ESPN BET.
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Bet365’s $57.3 million handle represented an all-time monthly high, eclipsing its previous best of $54.5 million set last March. It also came with substantially less promo spend than 2023 — bet365’s $1.8 million outlay last month was down 92.7% from the $16.9 million in credits and bonuses awarded 12 months prior.
It has finished with higher adjusted gross revenue than promotional spend for five months running, with the $2.7 million spread in March the largest in that span. Bet365 claimed $4.6 million in taxable winnings while posting an 8% hold.
BetMGM’s handle of $53.9 million was practically unchanged from last March, down less than $100,000, but it also had a notably lighter promotional spend. The $2 million in credits was less than 50% of last year’s $4.6 million total, and BetMGM crafted a 5.9% win rate in keeping $3.2 million.
ESPN BET accepted $44.3 million worth of wagers in March, a slight uptick from February, but well off its peak of $72.8 million last December. After an outlay of more than $40 million to mark its national rollout in the final two months of 2023, the PENN Entertainment-owned sportsbook doled out $6.8 million in bonuses and credits through the first quarter of 2024.
ESPN BET did finish with a 7.5% hold for March, winning $3.3 million and outperforming its spend for the month by nearly $1.5 million.
More than half the $22.5 million in total promotional spend by the state’s 17 mobile operators came from FanDuel ($7.6 million) and DraftKings ($6.6 million) combined. FanDuel notched its fourth straight month with a double-digit hold, landing at 10.2% in claiming $27 million in revenue from $265.9 million worth of bets.
That was enough to push the online juggernaut over $500 million in all-time winnings in the Buckeye State while carrying a robust 14.3% win rate. FanDuel has also spent $293.1 million in promotions in the Buckeye State, but $168.7 million of that amount came during last year’s January launch.
DraftKings topped $20 million in revenue for the seventh consecutive month, posting a more modest 7.8% hold for March against $260.6 million in handle. It climbed over the $350 million plateau in all-time revenue thanks to a hold just shy of 11%.
Caesars started the second five for handle at $35.9 million, and three other mobile operators — Fanatics Sportsbook ($23.2 million), Hard Rock Bet ($12.5 million), and Tipico ($10.2 million) — posted eight-figure handles. Fanatics led this quartet in revenue with $1.4 million, followed by Caesars at $1.3 million, and Tipico at $530,000. Hard Rock Bet had a negative AGR of nearly $7,000 after winning $1.7 million combined in January and February.
Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse tops in retail handle
More than 25% of the $23.4 million handle from Ohio’s brick-and-mortar venues originated at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Caesars Sportsbook at the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers accepted $6.1 million worth of bets — nearly matching the $9 million total for all of 2023 — but finished with only a 4.4% hold in winning $287,200.
Sportsbooks at the state’s four casinos generated $8.6 million in handle and had a 6.8% hold to claim $584,700 in winnings. Wagering at the six racinos and Dayton Raceway totaled close to $8 million, with the combined 9.2% win rate resulting in $734,100 in operator winnings.
