It was a wild ride for Kentucky sports bettors the final two months of 2023 as they gave thanks in November and got coal in December.
The declines from October and operator revenue swinging up and down.
The two months of action saw a combined $546.6 million worth of action, with November’s $282.5 million handle the higher of the two. After being held to a sub-8% hold that month while winning $22.2 million, operators bounced back with a vengeance to close out 2023, posting a 12.4% win rate on $264.1 million worth of wagers to claim $32.7 million in gross revenue.
The KHRC did not provide figures for promotional credits and bonus bets by operators similar to the first two months, so it is unclear if the arms race to attract bettors continued on a large scale. The state received $7.6 million in taxes the final two months of the year, which was nearly the same amount coffers had from the first full month of betting in October. Overall, Kentucky generated $15.5 million in taxes in the three-plus months of action.
Mobile sportsbooks still jockeying for bettors 1k491b
As the seven DraftKings have yet to establish itself as the clear-cut No. 1 in the Commonwealth, but they are clearly the top-two options — FanDuel took top honors in November by a slim margin of $49,000 with $102 million worth of wagers, but DraftKings was $5.5 million better in December with a $98.5 million handle.
Caesars Sportsbook lurking behind them. After finishing within $600,000 of bet365 in November with $17.6 million handle, ESPN BET ticked above $19 million to close out the year while bet365 was closer to fifth-place Caesars than third.
Fanatics Sportsbook, which has seen month-over-month increases in handle but still reached only $5.6 million in December.
Race for No. 1 revenue spot just as tight 4j1w1x
In addition to the two digital powerhouses being separated by a mere $193,000 in handle with DraftKings leading, FanDuel has a slim edge in gross revenue by $502,000 with $40.4 million in winnings.
Both mobile books had double-digit holds to close out 2023, with FanDuel reaching 14.6% to reap $13.5 million from a $93 million handle. DraftKings fashioned an 11.9% win rate in claiming $11.7 million in revenue from $98.5 million worth of bets placed.
ESPN BET and bet365 are the only mobile books to post 10% or better holds in all three full months of betting, with the latter narrowly keeping that streak alive with a 10.2% hold in December in generating $1.6 million in revenue. ESPN BET has been at 12% or better in all three months and notched a 12.2% win rate to finish the year while winning $2.3 million.
Kentucky’s seven retail sportsbooks had a similar ebb-and-flow to their mobile counterparts the final two months of the year. Handle peaked in November, coming in just shy of $10 million before dropping back to $8.8 million to close out 2023. Bettors limited the house to $476,000 in revenue in November, but operators almost doubled that total in December at $900,000.
Churchill Downs and Red Mile ed for nearly two-thirds of the $36.6 million handle from brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in Kentucky, though Churchill Downs took a loss of $108,343 in November against $3.7 million handle. That was enough to leave Red Mile as the only venue to clear $1 million in winnings for the year despite sub-8% holds in both November and December as it won $333,000 from $4.6 million worth of wagers.
