Nearly $8bn Wagered for the First Year of Legal Betting in Ohio

Ohio, a US state that has a population of approximately 11.8 million people, legalized sports betting late in 2021. A few years later, on January 1, 2023, the state launched officially its legal retail and online sports betting market, delivering a wide range of options for bettors and sports fans alike. A year and one month have passed since the launch of legal sports betting across Ohio and judging by data released by the gambling regulator in the state, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the activity completely surpassed even the brightest expectations.

Overall, the betting handle reported by retail and mobile sports betting operators for 2023 hit approximately $7.65 billion, a result that represents nearly three times the initial expectations. Upon legalizing the activity, lawmakers anticipated that the sports betting sector in Ohio is expected to hit approximately $3.35 billion “after several years of operation.”

Further details released by the Commission reveal that a majority of the revenue came from online and mobile sports betting activities. For 2023, the total revenue posted by all licensed online sports betting operators hit $913.8 million. In contrast, the retail sector reportedly only $23.1 million in revenue.

According to the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the total taxable revenue for retail and online sports betting activities last year was a staggering $936.9 million. This means that licensed gambling operators won close to $750 million while the state received nearly $188 million in taxes.

Licensed Operators Posted the Lowest Revenue during the Summer

The data released by the gambling regulator reveals that the first month of sports betting was the strongest one for licensed mobile betting operators. In January 2023, mobile betting operators posted $1.09 billion in betting handle, resulting in $207 million in taxable revenue.

November last year marked the second-best results in terms of betting handle. Overall, mobile betting operators posted $841.1 million in betting handle for that month, a figure that translates to $66.8 million in taxable revenue.

Then, December marked the third-highest betting handle posted by Ohio’s mobile betting operators. For December 2023, the total mobile betting handle was $809.7 million, resulting in $84.4 million in taxable revenue.

After January 2023, a gradual decrease was observed in the total revenue posted by retail and online betting operators. The lowest revenue for the year was recorded in June, a total of $32.8 million. Then, starting from July, a gradual increase in the revenue was observed throughout the rest of the year despite a minor fluctuation observed in November.