After a contracting betting handle in February, March is the great redeemer. Unfortunately, Ohio’s sizable action did not translate into revenue that the sportsbooks, and legislators, were hoping for.
Ohio Casino Gaming Control Commission announced $808.1 million in wagers from March, over $130 million more than February. However, the hold percentage from the operators fell from 10.1% to 8.6%, meaning that operators as a whole saw their revenue decline month over month.
To compare, February, whose handle came in at a six-month low, brought in $66 million while March’s $800 million made the books just $63.8 million.
Retail sportsbooks, on the other hand, looked at March with excitement. After losing $122,000 from $13 million in bets, they finished the month with $1.6 million in revenue and nearly doubled their handle to $23.4 million. Still, Ohioans love to bet online, with only 2.9% of wagers made in person.
Top heavy field in Ohio
FanDuel and DraftKings, not surprisingly, see the most action, but more importantly for them, they see a massive share of the revenue. In March, they combined for 76.1% of the monthly Ohio sports betting revenue. But there is still money to go around with 17 of the 19 online operators seeing a profit.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the operators with more than $10 million in handle.
| Operator | March Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $265.8 million | $27 million |
| DraftKings | $260.6 million | $20.3 million |
| bet365 | $57.2 million | $4.6 million |
| BetMGM | $53.8 million | $3.1 million |
| ESPN BET | $44.2 million | $3.3 million |
| Caesars | $35.8 million | $1.3 million |
| Fanatics | $23.1 million | $1.3 million |
| Hard Rock | $12.4 million | -$6,900 |
| Tipico | $10.2 million | $529,000 |
Casinos see more money
A rising tide lifts all boats and as the brick-and-mortar sportsbooks saw more revenue, so too did the casinos in the Buckeye State.
Specifically, revenue came in at $94.7 million, a 13.4% jump compared to February. The Hollywood Casino in Columbus ($25.5 million) beat out JACK Cleveland Casino ($24.5 million) in revenue thanks to their customer’s slot machine use.
