Return of football fuels September surge for Ohio sportsbooks
Buckeye State tallies $668m in online bets for third-highest handle month on record
The return of football marks an annual boon for sportsbooks, and Ohio operators experienced that for the first time in September, tallying $668m in online bets for the state’s third-highest handle month since the launch of legalized sports betting in January.
Latest handle data released by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) represented an 83.3% month-over-month (MoOM) jump from August’s $364.3m and the most since March, when bettors wagered more than $715m.
Ohio’s 20 online operators generated $79.4m in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for a robust 11.9% hold, resulting in $26.9m in net gaming revenue (NGR) after the deduction of $52.5m in aggregate promotional spend.
That gave way to $15.9m in tax payments back to the state for the month.
The operator landscape continues to be a de facto duopoly, with DraftKings and FanDuel combining to account for over 70% of both handle and GGR in September. The two were as close as can be on the latter count, with FanDuel ($28.48m) owning the slightest of edges over DraftKings ($28.46m).
DraftKings handled more wagers ($261.4m versus $207.8m) than its primary competitor but also handed out a state-high $17m in free bets, significantly more than FanDuel’s $12.2m in promotional spend.
BetMGM took the third spot among operators with $46.1m in handle and $6.1m in GGR, flip-flopping with bet365, which generated $5.9m in GGR on handle of $41.9m.
In its first full month of operation, Fanatics Betting and Gaming accepted $23.7m in bets and held $3.9m in revenue, but nonetheless finished with a net-negative NGR due to an aggressive $5.9m in promotional outlay, the third-most in the state.
Ohio bettors wagered an additional $22.4m at retail sportsbooks, meaning the online market accounted for 97% of total handle across the month.