Ohio’s second year of sports betting continues to grow significantly, even in the slowest months on the sporting calendar.
Sportsbooks in the Buckeye State accepted $516.1 million in mobile wagers in June, the lowest monthly total in 2024. Despite the 13.3% drop from May’s $595.2 million, June’s wagers grew 48.1% from June 2023, when monthly wagers totaled $348.5 million.
Taxable revenue was $50.5 million. This was a 23.7% monthly decline from May’s $66.2 million but a 57.3% improvement from $32.1 million a year ago.
Ohio sports betting handle surpasses $4 billion in 2024
June’s numbers mark the halfway point in 2024, a year in which the Ohio sports betting market begins its growth toward maturity.
Through six months, online sports betting handle totals $4,002,990,158 — up 7.8% from $3.71 billion after the state’s first six months. Those first six months also included an outlier $1.09 billion handle in January 2023.
Online sportsbooks reported $429.4 million in taxable revenue through June, down 19.7% from the first six months of 2023 ($527.9 million). Even with the drop, Ohio sports betting generated $1.34 billion in taxable revenue in its first 18 months.
Sports betting handle and revenue in 2024:
Month Handle Revenue
January $792,061,204 $110,707,733
February $657,725,245 $66,997,120
March $784,782,959 $62,246,916
April $657,085,444 $72,798,404
May $595,228,863 $66,179,101
June $516,106,443 $50,488,592
DraftKings & FanDuel maintain dominance as top Ohio sportsbooks
Ohio offers bettors a significant number of online sportsbooks, 19 in total. Despite the diverse options, 66% of June’s wagers went to two operators.
DraftKings led the state with a $181.7 million handle and a 35.2% market share. It was the second month in a row that DraftKings edged out its top competitor, FanDuel, which had a $159.4 million handle (30.8% market share). Ohio’s May sports betting report saw DraftKings handled $204.2 million compared to FanDuel’s $199.8 million in bets.
However, FanDuel reported a significantly higher total taxable revenue than DraftKings. FanDuel had $22.7 million in taxable revenue, almost 45% of the state’s total, while DraftKings reported $15.3 million.
No other operators came close to the top two. Only five hit eight-figure handles, and the sum of all five handles amounted to less than FanDuel on its own.
- bet365: $52 million handle; $4.6 million in taxable revenue
- BetMGM: $34.4 million handle; $2.5 million in taxable revenue
- Caesars: $27.7 million handle; $717K in taxable revenue
- ESPN Bet: $19.9 million handle; $1.7 million in taxable revenue
- Fanatics: $17.8 million handle; $1.4 million in taxable revenue
Ohio sports betting grows nearly 50% year over year in June
The above numbers from Ohio’s top seven sportsbooks accounted for some staggering statistics. They combined for
- 95.5% of all wagers in June
- 96.7% of taxable revenue
Those numbers leave crumbs for the remaining 12 operators, reflecting their totals. Only half had seven-figure handles.
- Hard Rock Bet: $8.2 million handle; $638K in taxable revenue
- BetJACK: $3.3 million handle; $259K in taxable revenue
- Tipico: $3.3 million handle; $356K in taxable revenue
- BetRivers: $3.2 million handle: $142K in taxable revenue
- Prime: $1.6 million handle; $67K in taxable revenue
- BallyBET: $1.4 million handle; $64K in taxable revenue
Only one of the remaining six sportsbooks broke half a million in betting volume, according to the June report:
- Betway: $503K handle; $24K in taxable revenue
- Betfred: $454K handle; $60K in taxable revenue
- Superbook: $451K handle; $0 in taxable revenue
- betPARX: $340K handle; $619 in taxable revenue
- MVGBet: $202K handle; $20K in taxable revenue
- Betr: $184K handle; $41K in taxable revenue
An exciting six months await Ohio sportsbooks
While the second half of 2024 will begin with a slow July and a less slow August, the final four months should be among the best all year.
Last year’s second half drew $3.72 billion in betting volume, around $15 million more than the first half. But remember, the first half of 2023’s numbers were inflated due to the launch.
If the first half of 2024 has produced nearly 8% growth from an inflated first half of 2023, what will a less-inflated second half post? Can sports betting handle reach $1 billion again in a month this year?
It will be fun to see the answers to these questions unfold over the rest of the year.
Regardless, Ohio sports betting volume should land somewhere between $8 billion and $9 billion for the year, as sportsbooks would need a 35% year-over-year improvement in the second half of 2024 to surpass $9 billion.
