The Ohio Casino Control Commission released its November financial report Tuesday showing customers wagered $864.2 million across the state — the highest amount other than January’s debut month — with sportsbooks earning betting revenue of $67.8 million.
The Fanatics Sportsbook into the third spot in usage by Ohioans.
PENN Entertainment abandoned its relationship with and ownership of Barstool Sports this year in favor of a new partnership with ESPN, which led on Nov. 14 to ESPN BET replacing Barstool Sportsbook as the company’s betting platform.
The transition was marked by sports betting sites.
That big push to acquire customers’ attention led to $70.8 million in Ohio handle for PENN’s online sportsbook in November, compared to $19.8 million in October, and it reported revenue of $12 million, up from $1.6 million. That revenue was offset, however, by the $29 million in customer credits, dwarfing the $236,216 the Barstool site gave away in October.
The combined Barstool/ESPN BET online sportsbook in November ended up with an 8.4% market share for the month in the Buckeye State, compared to 2.7% for Barstool in October. The big question is whether December’s report a month from now will show that level of share continuing or growing, given the substantial reduction in customer enticements this month compared to November’s initial offer.
FanDuel-DraftKings war continues 2l6n5m
Many legal sports betting states reached record wagering levels in November, a month of heavy sports betting action led by the a massive opening month in January unlikely to ever be matched, but the $864.2 million wagered in November was 15.8% higher than in October.
FanDuel and DraftKings throughout the year have had a close tussle for leadership in handle and revenue in Ohio, with November no different. FanDuel led in handle, with $293.3 million compared to $275.8 million for DraftKings. DraftKings had an edge in revenue, however, by earning $22.5 million compared to $21 million for FanDuel.
BetMGM and bet365 have had their own close competition for months, and similar to what occurred with the two rivals at the top, one led in handle but the other in revenue. BetMGM reported taking $50.1 million in bets and claiming $3.3 million in revenue, while bet365 sat at $45.4 million/$3.7 million.
Caesars Sportsbook’s $38.4 million in handle was above its October level in Ohio, but its $1.3 million in November revenue was about $1 million less than the month before.
A similar scenario occurred with Fanatics Sportsbook, which reported a small increase in monthly handle to $25.5 million but a $1.5 million drop in revenue to $1.1 million.
Overall, bettors fared far better in relative in November than October, even if they always cumulatively lose money. They held the sportsbooks’ hold rate to 7.8% in November, down from 10.8% in October, when statewide revenue was $12.4 million higher despite fewer bets being taken.
Over the first 11 months now of legalized betting in Ohio, sportsbook customers have placed $6.83 billion in wagers and operators have totaled revenue of $847.8 million. Meanwhile, the state treasury has claimed $115.6 million in tax revenue from a rate imposed on operators that was originally 10% and doubled to 20% on July 1.
The state would have received no revenue in November, however, from three digital sportsbooks whose customers won more than they lost in the month: SuperBook (-$31,136).
In-person bets count, too 17362c
The 15 retail sportsbooks at casinos and racinos or attached to sports venues handled a total of $23.1 million in bets in November, combining for $1.2 million in revenue. As with their digital counterparts, that was more volume but less earnings than in October.
Hollywood Casino Columbus was again the busiest location, taking $4.1 million in bets and keeping $268,265 in revenue. The sportsbook at JACK Cleveland wasn’t far behind, with $3.6 million in handle and $262,691 in revenue.
As has been the case most months, however, there were several venues that lost money overall to customers making in-person wagers. In November, those were Hollywood Casino Columbus (-$71,589), Miami Valley Gaming and Racing (-$67,378), Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway (-$52,929), and the Fanatics Sportsbook at Progressive Field in Cleveland (-$12,775).
