April Brings Newcomer Ohio Its Lowest Betting Activity Yet

Sports betting activity in Ohio fell to its 2023 low in April, with $520.6 million in statewide handle that represented less than half the volume of its remarkable first month in January. Revenue last month amounted to $63.7 million.

The arrival of spring typically reduces betting levels due to the change in the sports calendar, and the Buckeye State’s initial experience was no different, according to data released Wednesday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

April’s $520.6 million in bets, about 97% of it handled by 18 digital platforms, was a 29.4% drop from the $737.2 million handle in March, when the NCAA Tournament provides a big boost. The first month of the year, with all of the attention and promotional offers surrounding Ohio’s debut as a legal sports betting state, saw $1.11 billion in bets.

As their hold rate, the sportsbooks combined to keep about 12.2% as revenue from what customers wagered in April, before the state claimed a 10% tax share amounting to $6.38 million.

Even with the monthly slowdown, April pushed Ohio’s betting volume in its first four months just above $3 billion, with the online and retail operators collectively showing total taxable revenue from it of $449.2 million. The state claims 10% of that for tax purposes.

BetJACK showed sole positive trend

All but one online operator saw a decline in betting activity between March and April. The exception was betJACK, which was able to climb from $3.4 million in handle to nearly $3.7 million, with monthly revenue of $437,311. While well below the volume of the well-known national operators, that’s a nice trend for the locally based mobile operation tied to JACK Cleveland.

Major online sportsbooks such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM all saw big monthly decreases roughly in line with the decline in activity statewide. FanDuel retained its No. 1 ranking, with handle of $184.6 million that was down 28.6% from the month before. It reported revenue of $28 million.

DraftKings took $161.3 million in bets in April, with revenue of $17.2 million. There was a big drop from there to third-place BetMGM, with $38.1 million in handle and $4.6 million in revenue. For both operators, monthly handle fell 29.4%.

Bet365 had moved ahead of BetMGM in usage in March, but it fell back to fourth place in April, with handle of $36.9 million. Its revenue of $5.1 million was slightly ahead of BetMGM, but it also outspent it on promotional giveaways, by $5 million to $2.9 million.

Fifth-place Caesars Sportsbook showed $27.5 million in handle and Barstool Sportsbook was behind it with $23.5 million, but both earned $2.1 million in revenue. Both of those gave away far less by promotions than their bigger competitors.

When tracking the month-to-month diminished betting volume, it’s easy to see a correlation to the extent of promotions, as well as attributing it to the changing sports calendar. The value of special offers used to attract betting amounted to $24.2 million in April, compared to $320 million in January, $59.1 million in February, and $44.4 million in March.

There was one newcomer to the online scene in April, although it was not fully competing. Fanatics Sportsbook, which began operations through invitations to selected customers, finished the month with $431,708 in handle and $124,037 in revenue, although the latter was exceeded by $234,288 in promotional giveaways. Fanatics has a pending agreement to acquire the U.S. operations of PointsBet, which showed $3.2 million in handle and $432,974 in revenue.

Betting decline extended to retail books

The state’s 14 retail betting locations, known officially as Type B proprietors, all showed less betting activity in April than March. Combined, they amounted to $14.9 million in bets and $1.5 million in revenue, compared to $21.9 million and $2.8 million the month before.

The biggest drop-off came at the Caesars Sportsbook operation in partnership with the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where the handle plunged from $1.4 million in March to $252,025 in April.

Three casinos had the biggest handle, with Hollywood Columbus taking almost $3 million in bets, Hard Rock Cincinnati taking $2.8 million, and JACK Cleveland showing $1.7 million.

Two of the retail sportsbooks reported a loss for the month, with BetMGM’s operation at Great American Ball Park showing a $38,580 loss on $98,810 in bets, and the SuperBook operation in a temporary bar location near FC Cincinnati’s home soccer venue losing $3,207 on $13,927 in bets.