The Ohio Casino Control Commission and Ohio Lottery reported a combined $99.7 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for January and maintained the national status quo with a collective double-digit hold.
While narrowly missing a nine-digit haul for the third consecutive month, operator winnings surged 22.9% from the previous January. All but $43,800 of the revenue came from sportsbooks, as there remain fewer than 40 sports betting kiosks being operated by UBetOhio.
The 10.7% win rate against $931.6 million handle was up 2.7 percentage points from the first month of 2025, likely boosted by Ohio State’s losing in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff in the Cotton Bowl as a No. 2 seed.
Wagering was down 8% from last year, but still enough to slot into the bottom of the top 10 all-time, as the Buckeye State started its fourth year of commercial sports wagering. Ohio collected an estimated $19.9 million in tax receipts, and the $136. 1 million accrued through the first seven months of the current fiscal year is running $26.5 million ahead of last year’s pace.
DraftKings, FanDuel pull back on promos
The Buckeyes’ early exit from the CFP may have inadvertently helped slow promotional spend for FanDuel and DraftKings. The statewide outlay of nearly $31 million among the 13 mobile operators was down 17.5% from January 2025. FanDuel and DraftKings spent a combined $7.7 million less than the first month of last year, though FanDuel easily led all operators with a $13.1 million spend.
DraftKings’ $8.4 million worth of credits and bonuses awarded was down 30.3% compared to the previous year, but it did take honors for handle with $301 million worth of accepted bets. It posted a 10.8% hold to claim $32.6 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), up 48.1% year-over-year despite a 6.5% downturn in handle.
FanDuel was tops for revenue with $39.1 million, attaining a 13.2% win rate from $295.3 million handle. Winnings were up by only $243,100 compared to last year, as action plunged 17.7%.
Bet365 continues to hold down the No. 3 spot in handle and promotional spend, accepting $78 million worth of wagers, while offering $2.7 million in promotional play. Revenue shot 43.3% higher to close to $9 million, as the 11.5% hold was up almost four percentage points.
Fanatics and BetMGM rounded out the top five in both handle and revenue, though Fanatics had the better month. Its near-10% win rate resulted in $5.3 million in revenue, while BetMGM had a hold of just 4.9% to claim $3.4 million.
BetMGM also completed the group of four mobile books to spend more than $2 million in promotional offers, while Fanatics ($1.3 million) and Hard Rock Bet ($1.1 million) also reached seven figures.
Caesars started the second five with $2.6 million in winnings, crafting an 8.2% hold in collecting $2.6 million. TheScore Bet eked out a small year-over-year gain from predecessor ESPN Bet’s effort in January 2025, as its $2.5 million in revenue was up 6.2%, despite a 14.5% dip in handle to nearly $30 million.
Secondary sports boost Nevada sportsbooks
The Nevada Gaming Commission reported $64.5 million in January sportsbook revenue, the third consecutive month Silver State operators posted a top-10, post-PASPA, revenue haul.
Despite the success in the historical context, revenue slipped 11.1% from January 2025. The $795.4 million handle was down 1.9% from last year, while the 8.1% hold was off by a full percentage point.
The 27.3% falloff in football revenue to $28.1 million was a key contributor to the year-over-year drop in winnings, even with sportsbooks notching a solid 7.7% hold from $364.6 million in handle. The win rate was 2.7 percentage points lower than January 2025, while pigskin wagering dipped 2%.
The house, though, made up ground with a post-PASPA record $12.8 million in winnings from the catch-all “other” category, which in Nevada includes golf, tennis, soccer, mixed martial arts, and boxing. That topped the previous record of $12.7 million established last June and was up 45.2% — close to $4 million — from January 2025.
Retail sportsbooks continued to fight the good fight with a third straight double-digit win rate at 10.8%, claiming $25.3 million from a $233 million handle. Revenue slumped 15.4% from last year, but wagering has slacked 34.2% from a 2023 peak of $354.2 million.
