Ohio sports betting revenue has embarked on an upward trajectory as the lingering days of summer gradually wane. In August, the Buckeye State saw a notable increase of 14.6% from July in sports wagering, although casino revenues experienced a slight decline.
Sports Betting Increases
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) released its sports betting data last week and it was good news for the sportsbooks in the Buckeye State. The state’s 19 mobile and 15 retail sportsbooks combined for $378.8 million in accepted wagers – commonly known as the handle – which was a 14.4% increase over the previous month.
Similarly, revenues in August spiked 9.8% from July with the OCCC reporting taxable revenue of $40.8 million on a hold – also known as the win rate – of 10.8% which brought $8.16 million into the state’s tax coffers now that the 20% cut, increased from 10%, has gone into effect starting July 1st.
Football Boosts Sports Betting
We should note that in August football begins ramping up with the NFL preseason and a smattering of regular-season college football games dotting the sports betting landscape. And because the sportsbooks want to generate interest before the season begins in earnest, we saw the books give out over $15.2 million in promos and bonuses which was up over 42% from July.
Ohio’s retail sportsbooks also experienced a bump in August as evidenced by the 26.6% increase in handle to $14.5 million generating a combined revenue of $1.4 million. The Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati made the most money with over $349,000 in revenues of $1.9 million in bets.
The Hollywood Casino Columbus took in the most action with $2.8 million in August bets which produced nearly $242,000. JACK Cleveland had a busy month relatively speaking with $1.8 million in wagers delivering $231,365 in revenue.
Mobile Betting Rankings
DraftKings maintained the No. 1 position in handle for the second consecutive month with $133.8 million in accepted wagers which was up 15.2% from last month and generated $12.6 million in revenue on a 9.4% hold.
FanDuel may not have copped the top spot but they did win the battle that counts – money in the pocket. The New York City-based bookmaker accepted $115.8 million but its impressive hold of 13.2% delivered the most revenue in Ohio during August with $15.3 million.
The duopoly of DraftKings and FanDuel is prevalent in virtually every state in which the pair is licensed, and Ohio is no different as they controlled 68.8% of the betting in August with the remaining sportsbooks competing for the remaining share.
Speaking of which, the other four of Ohio’s top six mobile sportsbooks in August in terms of handle were Bet365 ($27.5 million), BetMGM ($26.4 million), Caesars Sportsbook ($17.9 million), and Barstool ($12.4 million).
Casino Betting Takes Slight Tumble
The state’s four casinos combined for revenue of $82.4 million in August via its slots and table games while the seven racinos in Ohio tallied $112.5 million from their gambling machines for a total revenue of nearly $195 million. That combined revenue was down 4.2% from August and only half a percent from August 2022.
JACK Cleveland was the only one of the four casinos that saw an increase over the last month and the previous August with a state-high of $22.3 million in revenue which was up approximately $200,000 from July and $500,000 from August 2022.
Calculators
