Ohio’s Sports Betting Handle Drops, Revenue Soars in January

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has published a report revealing that sports betting operators generated $113.1 million in January 2024, marking a 45.8% decrease compared to January 2023 and a 30% rise from December 2023’s figure.

The Buckeye State’s sports betting market officially opened its gates to the public in January 2023, which is why the month that ended January 31 is the first one that has allowed a comparison on a year-on-year basis. 

While the market’s initial month of operations recorded $210.5 million generated by sportsbooks in the state, revenue only reached $87.3 million in December 2023.

Close to all revenue originated from online and mobile, which totaled $110.6 million, and only $2.5 million came from retail.

FanDuel Accounted for Over 50% of the Revenue 

With $53 million in revenue, Belterra Park-based FanDuel continued to be the top dog, accounting for over 50% of revenue. 

Hollywood Toledo-based DraftKings, on the other hand, won the title of being the sole operator to contribute over $10 million. 

In January 2024, the iconic daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company brought in $34 million.

The two reigning powerhouses have been carrying a tight fight for the top two positions in the market, with DraftKings only surpassing FanDuel’s handle four times and its revenue once. 

ESPN BET was the second runner-up, a position it gained for the third month in a row, with both its handle and revenue dropping on a month-over-month basis. 

In November and December 2023, the company gathered more than $70 million in wagers while earning $11.9 million and $8 million in revenue, respectively, during those same months. 

In January 2024, the action-packed sportsbook that is loaded with exclusive odds boosts and custom offers gathered less than $60 million in total handle with a revenue of $4.6 million. 

Next in line were BetMGM with a $50 million handle and bet365 with a handle of $49.7 million.

Handle Records Significant YoY Drop 

Sports betting handle in January 2024 reached a considerable low compared to January 2023. Bettors only wagered $810.4 million in the month that ended January 31, 2024, marking a 26% drop compared to the $1.1 billion recorded last year. 

Compared to the month of December 2023, the handle also suffered a 2.3% decrease.

These figures may likely be affected further in following months because of the ban imposed on player props that involve student-athletes. The OCCC reported that college player props represented 1.5% of the money bet on sports in 2023.

State operators paid out $691.8 million in winnings in the first month of 2024, and wrote off $40 million as promotions. 

Around $792.1 million of handle originated from the online segment and some $18.4 million from retail.

Ohio Casinos Numbers 

Finally, while the top four casinos in the state reported a gross gaming revenue of $75.2 million in January 2024, the figure signals a 12.6% drop and an 18% month-over-month decrease.

Ohio casinos reported the lowest monthly revenue total in the past three years, with results only surpassed by the $67.6 million recorded in February 2021. 

Video lottery terminals won $100.8 million, marking a 9% decrease compared to last 2023 when the venues scored a win of $110.8 million.

With $21.2 million in revenue, Jack Cleveland Casino ranked first of all state casinos, despite the gambling facility solely reporting $11.5 million in slot machine revenue, which represented the lowest in Ohio.

The total sports betting handle recorded by licensed online and retail operators in Ohio for 2023 reached almost $7.7 billion, surpassing all expectations.