The Ohio Casino Control Commission and Ohio Lottery reported a combined $993 million in sports wagering handle for March, the fourth-highest total in Buckeye State history.
All but $1.04 million of that amount came from digital and retail sportsbooks, as nearly 700 lottery-run kiosks are still in operation across Ohio. Handle was up 22.7% from last year but fell just short of a fourth $1 billion monthly handle since the first bets were placed on New Year’s Day in 2023.
Operators generated $66.5 million in revenue, with the 6.7% hold slightly above the national average of 6.3% among the first 25 states to publish handle and revenue figures for the month. Revenue was up 4% from March 2024, lagging behind handle as the win rate was 1.2 percentage points lower.
The state collected $13.3 million in tax receipts as a potential increase of the 20% rate is being considered. After Republican House lawmakers opted not to include Gov. Mike DeWine’s ask to double the tax to 40% in their proposed budget, state Sen. Bill Blessing introduced SB 150, which would raise the rate to 36%. The bill, which is currently in the Senate Finance Committee, would earmark some of the receipts towards funding future sports stadium projects.
Ohio originally had a 10% tax on operator revenue at launch, which DeWine doubled that as part of his Fiscal Year 2024 budget.
FanDuel, DraftKings lift overall hold
The state’s top two mobile sportsbooks, FanDuel and DraftKings, each eclipsed the 6.7% statewide hold in March, accounting for more than $643 million of overall handle. FanDuel had an 8% hold in claiming $26.3 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), while DraftKings posted a 7.2% win rate to reap $22.7 million from $316.7 million worth of accepted bets.
The two juggernauts also accounted for the bulk of the $26.8 million promotional spend by the state’s 14 digital sportsbooks, with FanDuel offering bettors $10.4 million in credits and bonuses and DraftKings putting $8.3 million on the table. FanDuel’s outlay was 37.2% higher compared to March 2024, while DraftKings had a 25.4% increase. Overall, promotional spend was up 18.8% year-over-year.
England-based bet365 — the owners of which are reportedly considering a sale — was a strong third for handle, reaching an all-time high of $89.9 million. That did not translate into a bumper month for revenue, though, as it posted a 5.1% hold in keeping $4.6 million. It was more restrained in offering goodies to bettors as the $1.5 million outlay was down 18.9% from the previous March.
Fanatics was the other aggressive business-seeker with relation to promotional spend: Its $2.3 million outlay was both $1 million more than last year and only $217,800 less than its $2.5 million in winnings this year. Fanatics more than doubled its handle from March 2024 to $49.2 million as it attained a 5% hold.
BetMGM ($2.3 million), Caesars ($2.3 million), and ESPN BET ($1.8 million) were the other mobile sportsbooks to reach seven figures in revenue in March, but ESPN watched both operators — and Fanatics — erode its market share. The PENN Entertainment-owned sportsbook saw handle decline 13.9% year-over-year to $38.1 million, while wagering at BetMGM was up 38.2% and Caesars reported a 10.7% increase.
A sluggish/not sluggish first quarter
Ohio sportsbooks overall claimed $223.4 million in revenue for the first three months of the year, down 8.9% compared to the first quarter of 2024. Improved bettor performance has negated the 20.7% spike in handle to $2.77 billion: The 8.1% hold thus far is 2.6 percentage points lower versus January through March of last year.
That has impacted the state’s tax coffers as the $44.7 million in receipts is currently running almost $4.4 million behind last year’s pace. Ohio, though, did become the fifth state to surpass $350 million in state tax revenue from sports betting in the post-PASPA era with March’s inflow.
Over in Virginia…
The Virginia Lottery Thursday reported March handle totaling $689.7 million, a year-over-year increase of 8.5%. It was the sixth time the Old Dominion surpassed $650 million in monthly wagering since launch in late January 2021. All six instances occurring in the last 15 months.
Gross revenue for operators totaled $50.7 million, resulting in a 7.3% hold. Winnings were up 6.3% from March 2024, with adjusted gross revenue increasing by roughly the same percentage to $45.1 million.
The Virginia Lottery does not disclose handle or revenue figures for operators in its monthly release but noted 11 operators finished with positive AGR which was eligible to be taxed at 15%. The state’s coffers saw an inflow of close to $6.8 million for the month, and the $28.2 million for the first quarter of 2025 is almost $5.7 million ahead of last year’s pace.
Handle for the first quarter was $17 million shy of $2 billion, a year-over-year increase of 8.2%. The house has seen AGR surge 21.8% in that span to $188 million, with the 9.5% win rate more than a full percentage point higher.
