May is a historically slow month for sports betting, but Ohio sportsbooks had plenty to celebrate.
Ohio’s online sports betting handle totaled $595.2 million in May, up 38.2% year over year from $430.7 million. Despite the growth, betting volume was the lowest in 2024, dropping 9.4% from April’s $657.1 million.
Taxable revenue was $66.2 million, resulting in an 11.1% hold. Revenue grew by 18.3% year over year from $56 million.
Ohio sports betting revenue remains strong despite May dip
The Ohio sports betting market continues to grow in its second year of operation, generating nearly $1.3 billion in revenue in 17 months.
Even though May was the slowest month for betting volume, its revenue nearly matched other totals from recent months. The month’s taxable revenue was in the same ballpark as the last three months.
- May: $66.2 million revenue ($595.2 million handle)
- April: $72.8 million revenue ($657.1 million handle)
- March: $62.2 million revenue ($784.8 million handle)
- February: $67 million revenue ($657.7 million handle)
DraftKings surpasses FanDuel in handle but not revenue
Month after month, Ohioans continue to patronize two top online sportsbooks from their 19 options. DraftKings led the state in May betting volume for the fifth time in state history and the first since a four-month stint between July and October 2023.
DraftKings reported $204.2 million in May handle, slightly ahead of FanDuel’s $199.8 million. The two combined for 67.9% of all wagers in the state.
DraftKings came nowhere near FanDuel in monthly revenue, though. Its $20.1 million in taxable revenue amounted to less than two-thirds of FanDuel’s $30.6 million. Together, their totals amounted to 76.7% of the state’s taxable sports betting revenue.
The next-closest sportsbooks were nowhere near DraftKings and FanDuel. Just four of the remaining 17 options generated handles above $10 million:
- bet365: $45 million handle; $4.7 million in taxable revenue
- BetMGM: $41.3 million handle; $3.4 million in taxable revenue
- ESPN Bet: $27.8 million handle; $2.7 million in taxable revenue
- Fanatics: $18.9 million handle; $1.4 million in taxable revenue
Six Ohio sportsbooks handle under $1 million
Half of the remaining 12 Ohio sportsbooks had seven-figure handles, according to the May revenue report. This means six failed to reach that mark.
Only four reported taxable revenue totals above $100K. Two had losing months. Those with more than $1 million in monthly handle included:
- Hard Rock Digital: $9.7 million handle; $343K in taxable revenue
- BetRivers: $4.8 million handle; $279K in taxable revenue
- Tipico: $4.1 million handle; $420K in taxable revenue
- BetJACK: $3.7 million handle; $309K in taxable revenue
- Prime: $2.7 million handle; -$103K in taxable revenue
- BallyBET: $1.1 million handle; $37K in taxable revenue
Those with under $1 million in monthly handle included:
- Superbook: $642K handle; $20K in taxable revenue
- Betway: $450K handle; $15K in taxable revenue
- Betfred: $476K handle; $2K in taxable revenue
- betPARX: $344K handle; 18K in taxable revenue
- MVGBet: $328K handle; 32K in taxable revenue
- Betr: $221K handle; -$25K in taxable revenue
Ohio sports betting logs a solid start to the warmer months
Like all other states with legal sports betting, Ohio has an inverse correlation between warm weather and sports betting activity. Baseball fills the calendar during the summer months, generating less betting activity than football and basketball throughout fall, winter and spring.
Basketball activity decreases by May, and football season finds itself in the middle of the offseason. As a result, betting volume will remain comparatively low until September.
However, the objective measure of success comes in whether or not the numbers grow year over year. And Ohio sportsbooks are riding a four-month streak of year-over-year increases in monthly handle, with May following a strong April in Ohio.
January’s $792 million handle fell short of January 2023, which produced a record $1.09 billion handle in the state’s first month with legal sports betting. Since then, every month has gotten better:
- February: $657.7 million (+5.8% YoY)
- March: $784.7 million (+9.7% YoY)
- April: $657.1 million (+29.9% YoY)
- May: $595.2 million (+38.2% YoY)
If the past four months are any indication, June will be another record month for Ohio sports betting.