Ohio’s August Sports Betting Revenues Report Points Up on July’s Numbers

In August 2023, Ohio’s sports bettors wagered a total of $380 million in bets, according to the latest data release from the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

This marked a significant increase of 14.4% from July’s $332 million total bets.

Operators ended up netting $41 million in revenue after paying out winnings and voided wagers. The surge in betting activity was expected, as football betting took off with the start of the NFL and college football seasons.

Ohio online sportsbooks dominated throughout August, as usual. They accounted for $364 million of the total handle, or about 97.6%, compared to $14 million (or 2.4%) for Ohio retail sportsbook venues.

However, that is better for retail operations than in some states, where retail betting is less than 1% of the market. Retail options for Ohio bettors were boosted in August by the launch of two new Fanatics Sportsbook venues. One opened at the Cleveland Guardians’ Progressive Field on August 18, and another at the end of the month at the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Nationwide Arena.

All this activity resulted in $40.77 million of taxes for the Buckeye State’s coffers. It bring the total tax bill from the sector for the year to $617 million.

Operator Breakdown

At the top of the Ohio sports betting market, DraftKings and FanDuel continued their tussle for the number one spot. DraftKings once again proved most popular, with more overall bets at $138.8 million. However, it held on to less revenue ($12.6 million) than FanDuel. The second-most popular operator in Ohio took $115 million in handle, but held on to $15.3 million in revenues.

At the bottom end of the pack was Bally Bet, with just $8,826 in handle and $2291 in revenues. However, these stats are unfair to the operator, as it was only active for one day in August. It relaunched on the last day of the month after a two-month closure while it upgraded its services with developer Kambi.

The least popular online option for Ohio bettors throughout the month was Betway. It pulled in $373K in handle and made $52,500 in revenues.

Betr, the sportsbook backed by Ohio native social media star Jake Paul, had an improved month in terms of total handle at $457,000. They did not finish dead last as in previous months, instead overtaking Betway and gaining ground on Superbook. However, that did not translate into revenues, where Betr’s hold of $34,868 put them again dead last of all Ohio online sportsbooks for the month.

Retail Sportsbooks and Trends

On the other hand, the state’s 16 retail sports betting lounges attracted $14 million in bets and secured just under $2 million in revenue, with the two new Fanatics venues opening their doors in August. Additionally, the Lottery’s betting kiosks, situated in bars and restaurants, pulled in $743,000 of bets and generated $59,000 of revenue.

Interestingly, several retail sportsbooks in the Buckeye State were in the red for the month.

These include the Caesars Sportsbook in downtown Cleveland, the SuperBook sportsbook in Cincinnati, the BetMGM sportsbook at the MGM Northfield Park, and Caesars Sportsbook at the Scioto Downs racino in Columbus.

However, Ohio does not mandate sports betting companies to report sport-specific data, making it challenging to analyze betting patterns related to specific sports events or seasons.

The betting trends in Ohio have been somewhat seasonal, with the highest betting activities recorded in January ($1.1 billion), February ($640 million), and March ($739 million) of 2023.

The overall handle hit $522 million in April, and has not surpassed $500 million since. The summer months traditionally see a slowdown in betting, which then picks up in the fall with the kick off of the NFL and NBA seasons.