After a February where sportsbooks held less than 1.5%, March was expected to be a breath of fresh air for Kansas sportsbooks. While there certainly was a rebound, the operators may not be celebrating.
The Kansas Lottery announced a handle of $252.9 million last month, up $50 million from February and breaking a three-month streak of declining bets.
From those wagers, the sportsbooks made $7.1 million in revenue, after promotional deductions, which turned into a tax bill of $714,000 to the state. Compared to February, revenue more than doubled (thanks to a hold of 6.7%) but it showed a two-tiered ranking in the Sunflower State.
Revenue hard to come by
Online sports betting in Kansas made up 96% of the statewide action and DraftKings led the six operators in handle, followed by FanDuel. Combined, the two sportsbooks contributed nearly 97% of the entire tax bill in Kansas. Caesars was the only other operator to report a net revenue in March.
That means ESPN BET, BetMGM, and Fanatics reported $0 last month. To give them credit, they did not pay out more than they took in. Instead, their monthly carryover deduction allowed them to avoid a tax bill. These three operators also failed to pay anything in February.
On top of that, all four retail operators did not need to pay any state tax. Hollywood Casino (tied to ESPN BET) did see the vast majority of the handle, if they are looking for some good news.
| Operator | March Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | $98.2 million | $4.7 million |
| FanDuel | $70.2 million | $2.1 million |
| BetMGM | $43.6 million | $0 |
| ESPN BET | $17.8 million | $0 |
| Caesars | $11.8 million | $257,000 |
| Fanatics | $1.2 million | $0 |
