In the first full month with four leading sportsbooks operating district-wide, D.C. took a record $39.6 million in sports wagers.
The latest revenue numbers from the D.C. Lottery and the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) reported the new monthly handle for August. That eclipses the former high of $35.4 reported in FanDuel’s first full month as the lottery’s official sportsbook partner in May.
D.C.’s combined gross sports betting revenue between its four district-wide online operators was $4.4 million in August, around $1 million short of the $5.4 million collected in May.
In July, when D.C. opened up its market to other operators, FanDuel transitioned to a Class A licensee via a partnership with D.C.’s Audi Field, home of MLS club DC United at which it has a retail sportsbook. The Flutter-owned brand took more than half of the total betting activity last month, handling $21.7 million of wagers and reaping nearly $2.8 million with a 12.7% hold.
DraftKings, which is a Class C operator and does not have a retail betting presence in D.C., contributed $7.4 million of the record handle in its first full month and took $875,169 in winnings.
Caesars and BetMGM, previously able only to offer mobile betting within a two-block radius of their physical sportsbooks at Capital One Arena and Nationals Park, respectively, are now Class A sportsbooks alongside FanDuel. Caesars reported a year-best handle of $5.4 million, but its revenue was just $321,878 as its win rate failed to break 6%. BetMGM took $5.2 million in wagers and posted $450,588 in revenue.
Class A operators BetMGM, Caesars and FanDuel maintain their two-block exclusivity zones around Capital One Arena, Nationals Park and Audi Field, respectively.
D.C.’s varied tax rates produced $967,395 million in tax receipts for August from those four operators. Back in May, when FanDuel held a monopoly on D.C.-wide betting, it paid 40% of its revenue in taxes. Now, as one of several Class A operators, it pays 20%. As a Class C licensee, DraftKings pays 30%.
To date in 2024, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel have handled $96.7 million in bets and taken $10.3 million in gross revenue.
D.C. market continues to transform
Even since finishing July with Caesars, BetMGM and DraftKings all offering sports wagers district-wide for the first time, the market has continued to further evolve.
Caesars got a boost last week when it announced the OLG has approved it to exclusively offer self-service sports betting kiosks to 53 businesses in D.C., replacing GambetDC.
And next month’s D.C. revenue results will have another mobile sportsbook on the list.
Fanatics Sportsbook has gone live in the market via a partnership with the Washington Spirit to become the NWSL pro women’s soccer team’s official sports betting partner.
Fanatics already operates a sportsbook inside Commanders Field in Landover, Maryland, five miles east of Washington, D.C. Now, its online sports betting platform is live across D.C., its 23rd U.S. jurisdiction.
