Half a billion dollars shouldn’t be a disappointment, but the $520 million in handle posted by Ohio online and retail sportsbooks was the lowest month so far for the sports-happy state. It is a fairly steep drop-off from the $739 million those books generated in March.
Revenue from April amounted to $63.8 million for an overall hold percentage of 12.3%, which was roughly the same hold sportsbooks posted the previous month. Roughly $6.4 million will go to the state as tax revenue.
Here is a look at the top five operators by handle as well as their revenues and how much they spent on promotional credit:
- 1. FanDuel: $184.6 million in handle, $28 million in revenue, $7 million in promotional credit
2. DraftKings: $161.3 million in handle, $17.2 million in revenue, $5.4 million in promotional credit - 3. BetMGM: $38.1 million in handle, $4.6 million in revenue, $2.9 million in promotional credit
4. bet365: $36.9 million in handle, $5.1 million in revenue, $5 million in promotional credit
5. Caesars: $27.5 million in handle, $2.1 million in revenue, $544K in promotional credit
Once again, FanDuel and DraftKings dominated the market with a combined 67.7% in market share based on handle. They managed to do so despite continuing to slash their promotional credit budgets. Total promotional credit for the month came in at $24.2 million compared to $44.4 million in March.
In March it was bet365 who was the biggest promotional spender but they too cinched the purse strings in April, dropping from almost $17 million in promos to just shy of $5 million in April promotional spending. That put the sportsbook behind FanDuel and DraftKings in spending and helped to cement its position in the top five sportsbooks.
BetMGM and Tipico were the only other operators to spend seven figures on promos in April. For BetMGM, it helped maintain its spot in a distant third place but for Tipico the spending did not help it move past Barstool and Hard Rock into the top five. Moreover, with only $740K in revenue for the month, Tipico operated at a loss overall.
Several other operators besides Tipico may not have doled out millions in credit but still spent more than they earned, including Betfred, Betr, MVGBet, Parx, and Fanatics.
This is the first glimpse the industry has gotten at Fanatics Sportsbook’s financials. Keep in mind the operator only offered an invite-only beta option of the sportsbook in Ohio for part of April. The new kid on the block posted $432K in handle, posted an impressive hold percentage of 28.7% with $124K in revenue, and spent $234K on promotional credit.
Fanatics has been offering new users a promotion where a $5 real bet will earn users $200 in free bets on the site.
On the retail side of things, Hard Rock Cincinnati and Hollywood Columbus generated nearly identical handle with shy of $3 million in bets to remain the most popular in-person sportsbooks in the state.
The sports betting kiosks overseen by the Ohio Lottery continued to struggle for traction with $1.1 million in wagers across 926 kiosks.
