The Kansas City Royals, who play in neighboring Missouri, are having a great start to the MLB season but baseball has never been able to impact the sports betting market significantly, with Kansas sports betting action falling in April.
The Kansas Lottery reported a significant monthly decline in action across the board, with just $192 million in wagers last month, down 24%.
The sportsbooks held 9.4% of the money they saw, much higher than the 6.7% in March, which made a difference. That being said, net revenue did increase compared to March with the statewide operators claiming $10.4 million. Kansas’ 10% tax cut gave them $1 million to their coffers.
Sportsbook gap still quite large
However, the rising tide of revenue did not lift all boats in Kansas.
Just like last month, only three of the state’s six operators reported a net revenue in April. The three companies in the red (BetMGM, Fanatics, and ESPN Bet) still held more money than they paid out, but they used the state’s regulations — mainly the net carryover deduction — to reduce their tax liability.
BetMGM saw the biggest monthly change as their handle dropped enormously from $43.6 million in March to just $13.7 million in April, losing the No. 3 spot (barely) to ESPN Bet. However, they didn’t report a net revenue in either month.
Fanatics saw a huge increase, roughly quintupling their March handle. Despite that, they're still last in the state.
| Online operator | April handle | Revenue |
| DraftKings | $84.3 million | $5.1 million |
| FanDuel | $60.7 million | $4.9 million |
| ESPN Bet | $13.9 million | $0 |
| BetMGM | $13.7 million | $0 |
| Caesars | $6.6 million | $277,000 |
| Fanatics | $6.4 million | $0 |
