The competition between the two industry leaders for customers among Ohio sportsbooks was tighter than ever in October, with DraftKings taking $258.7 million in bets and FanDuel a mere $56,975 behind in handling $258.6 million.
That extreme closeness highlighted the monthly sportsbook revenue report released Thursday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. It showed total October betting volume of $746.3 million and revenue of $80.2 million among the 20 sportsbook apps and 15 retail locations in operation last month.
As to revenue, FanDuel for the second straight month had a small edge over DraftKings while trailing it in bets taken. FanDuel reported revenue of $31 million while DraftKings claimed $28.6 million.
Between them, the two leaders dwarf all other operators of sports betting sites. They combined for 71.4% of the online betting handle and 76.3% of the online revenue in October. In Ohio, 97% of betting is done by phone or computer — a higher percentage than in most states.
With football in full swing, accompanied by the World Series and start of the NBA and NHL regular seasons, the volume of October betting was the most Ohio has seen since its initial month produced $1.11 billion in January.
Last month’s handle was 8.1% higher than in September, while revenue was slightly lower. The volume was boosted by $38.7 million in betting bonus offers, which was about $14 million less than the month before.
The sportsbooks collectively had a 10.8% hold rate in October, with the revenue resulting in $16.1 million for the state at the 20% tax rate.
Sign Up For The Sports Handle Newsletter!
A similarly tight race for third
While the numbers produced by BetMGM and bet365 are more modest than those of the leaders, they have a tight rivalry of their own.
Where BetMGM took third place in betting volume in September, bet365 recaptured that lead by a fraction in October, with $45.7 million in handle compared to $45.4 million. In revenue, however, BetMGM led $5.7 million to $3.8 million.
Caesars Sportsbook reported $35.5 million in online bets with $2.3 million in resulting revenue.
While Fanatics Sportsbook had seen a sharp rise each month in betting volume compared to other digital operators since its debut, that trend came to an end in October. Its $24.3 million in handle was only slightly above September’s $23.7 million. It reported revenue of $2.6 million, which was exceeded by $2.8 million in promotional offers to customers.
October marked the last full month of operation by PENN Entertainment of its Barstool Sportsbook, which it replaced in mid-November with ESPN BET, on which it is pinning hopes for increased wagering. Barstool took $19.8 million in bets with revenue of $1.6 million last month.
Among smaller digital operators, revenue losses were reported by three: MVGBet (-$14,966), SuperBook (-$5,552), and Betr (-$4,680).
On the retail side
The 15 retail sites tied to casinos, racinos, and sports facilities took a combined $22.1 million in bets with $2.1 million in revenue last month, with both figures close to what was reported in September.
Hollywood Casino Columbus took by far the most bets, with $4.2 million, and also had the most revenue for the month at $578,720.
Two venues lost proportionally large sums of money, however, on the bets taken in person.
The Fanatics site operated adjacent to Nationwide Arena in a partnership with the Columbus Blue Jackets lost $214,502 while reporting $546,307 in wagers accepted.
It was just a bit less bad for the Caesars Sportsbook at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Progressive Fieldhouse, which reported a loss of $106,604 while taking $634,089 in bets.
Ohio has now generated $780 million in sports betting revenue in its first 10 months, with a likelihood of surpassing $900 million by year’s end.
Read the original article Here
Visit the Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists Here