The onslaught of NFL and college football betting pushed Kansas’ sports betting handle in September to a record high of $219 million, breaking the previous Kansas mark of $206 million set in March.
Happy Anniversary
Breaking a handle record was a spectacular way to celebrate an anniversary, and that is precisely what was revealed after the data was collected at the end of September. Kansas has been in the sports betting business for one year and its anniversary month proved to be the busiest on record with over $219.3 million in bets, according to the Kansas Lottery.
September signals the arrival of NFL and college football which sparks a flurry of sports betting across the nation. Kansas was no different as bettors got busy once the monsters of the gridiron made their long-awaited appearance after the summer slumber of little more than Major League Baseball on the betting menu.
Therefore, it was not at all surprising that September’s handle more than doubled the $94 million from August. But what was even more impressive was the 36.6% increase over last September, which illustrates the foothold sports betting has taken in the Sunflower State after a full year of the masses getting acquainted with it.
Mobile Betting Reigns
As in all the states and jurisdictions where sports betting has been launched in the U.S., mobile sports betting towered above in-person wagering. Over $201 million, or 92%, of the $219 million total handle was wagered digitally which left just $18.2 million bet through the land-based sportsbooks.
The combined gross revenue for the sportsbooks operating in Kansas was just over $18 million, courtesy of an 8.6% hold, or win rate. But because the sportsbooks decided the first month of football was the time to incentivize its potential customers to sign up for an account, a whopping $11.6 million in bonuses and promotions were allowed as deductions, which lowered the collective bottom line to $8.1 million.
Nevertheless, this was an enormous increase over the $1.6 million generated in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from last September. And out of the $8.1 million in AGR, all but $459,000 was delivered through the mobile apps.
FanDuel Drop to No. 2
DraftKings led all challengers with over $97 million of the $201 million in mobile sports bets with gross revenue of $8.3 million on an 8.6% hold.
FanDuel, the former perennial handle and revenue leader, is becoming more and more accustomed to taking the No. 2 spot behind the Boston-based DraftKings. Such was the case in Kansas in September, as FanDuel came second with a handle of $54.4 million but generated an impressive 11.7% hold, producing $6.4 million in gross revenue.
Hollywood Kansas Rules Retail
Despite the overwhelming number of bets generated online compared to those wagered at the state’s four brick-and-mortar locations, Kansas’ retail sportsbooks still enjoyed a record handle in September, with a total of $18.2 million in sports bets.
But to be fair, it was PENN Entertainment’s Hollywood Kansas that did all the heavy lifting, reporting $16 million of the $18.2 million collected by the retail books. That was more than double its previous high of $8.5 million set in December. This means the $2.2 million remaining was split up among the other three retail books in the state.
Unfortunately, Hollywood Kansas’s hold was just 2.9% for the month, which translated to just $459,000 of the combined $570,000 revenue that the retail books generated in September. Combined, the four books reported a meager 3.1% hold for the month.
The state of Kansas collected over $806,000 in taxes of which $760,000 was paid by the mobile books. while only $46,000 came via the retail sportsbooks.
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