The second full month of sports betting in Ohio took a bit of a dive from the more than $1 billion generated last month but still posted solid numbers given the end of the football season. Nonetheless, it was a steep drop-off compared to other states and it is now third for the year when it comes to handle, trailing both New York and New Jersey.
Handle falls from almost $1.1B to $639M
According to the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) and the Ohio Lottery, sports betting kiosks and retail and online sportsbooks combined for roughly $639 million in handle and almost $83 million in revenue. The Lottery-run kiosks were responsible for $973,208 of handle and just $62,146 of revenue.
Once again, FanDuel and DraftKings were responsible for an overwhelming chunk of the market, with FanDuel taking $232.7 million in handle and DraftKings taking in $214 million. The two operators make up 71.9% of the market, with 37.5% and 34.5% market share respectively. The rest of the top five were BetMGM ($46.1 million), bet365 ($31 million), and Caesars ($28.4 million) just edging out Barstool Sportsbook ($28.1 million).
Promo spending falls from $320M to $59M
Promotional spending dropped precipitously from nearly $320 million in January to $59 million in February, which also helps explain why the big handle number from January dropped off so much.
Unlike January, when promotional spend roughly corresponded with market share, the top five spenders differed quite a bit from which books generated the most handle. Here’s a look at the top spenders with where they are in terms of market share in parentheses:
1. FanDuel – $19.7 million (1)
2. DraftKings – $18.4 million (2)
3. Bet365 – $9.7 million (4)
4. BetMGM – $4.7 million (3)
5. Tipico – $1.9 million (8)
Tipico spent nearly $4 million in promotional credit in January and halved that in February. The group did go from 1% market share in January to 1.3% in February, but it once again failed to make a profit gaining that third of a percent.
In January, Caesars and betr were the only operators to earn more than they spent. This past month, more operators did end up in the black, but plenty were still spending more than they were gaining. Here is a look at losses for the month:
Bet365 – $5.1 million
Tipico – $921K
BetRivers – $199K
Betfred – $160K
Betr – $98K
MVGBet – $69K
BetJACK – $42K
Betr continues to struggle to grab Ohio sports bettors
After just eking out a profit despite only capturing a tenth of a percent of the market in January, betr operated at a loss in February and still obtained only a tenth of a percent of the market. In January, betr was at a disadvantage with no real-monye deposits for the first two weeks of the month. In February, the site was fully operational every day yet didn’t make any gains.
Moreover, it is unclear what the OCCC might do about the news of Jake Paul paying a six-figure fine to the SEC. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission said it would be investigating the matter, so it is possible Ohio regulators might follow suit.
