Maryland Lottery and Gaming reported $43.8 million in gross sports betting revenue for July on Monday as sportsbooks hammered the public with a 13.1% hold for the month.

It was the second-highest win rate of the year behind January’s mark of 14.7% as operators attained a double-digit hold for the fourth consecutive month. The 11.2% hold through the first seven months of 2024 is slightly ahead of the 11.1% attained for all of 2023, with July’s percentage boosted by a robust 23.8% win rate on parlays and same game parlays.

Gross revenue surged 55.7% compared to July 2023, while the $333.3 million in wagers was up 34.7% from 12 months prior. Maryland became the 12th state to surpass $1 billion in all-time gross revenue for operators. Revenue was up 10.3% from June despite a 13.4% downturn in handle.

“We’re pleased with the growth of the market because it translates into education funding for Maryland,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin via email to Sports Handle upon reaching the milestone figure. “Sports wagering has contributed nearly $100 million to Maryland’s schools since launching in December 2021, which is a win for everyone in the state.”

With promotional spend down 82.1% compared to last year at just over $1 million to begin Fiscal Year 2025, the state was eligible to levy its 15% tax rate on $41.7 million in adjusted gross revenue. That is the fourth-highest total in 32 months of wagering in the Old Line State and re-directed close to $6.3 million into state tax coffers.

Maryland became the 11th state to surpass $3 billion in handle in 2024, with its $3.16 billion worth of wagers up 36.4% compared to the first seven months of last year. Adjusted revenue has spiraled 68.7% higher, which has led to Maryland collecting almost $42 million in state taxes — up $17.1 million from the same period last year.

1 New York $1.27B
2 MARYLAND $333.27M
3 Tenn. $271.54M
4 Iowa $138.14M
5 Oregon $53.28M
6 Maine $42.76M
7 West Va. $20.88M
8 Montana $2.95M
9 TBD
10 TBD#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) August 12, 2024

Maryland Lottery and Gaming began reporting category-specific handle and revenue figures in June 2023, and one of the immediate takeaways of those breakouts is how much parlay wagering is impacting the hold as an increased percentage of the overall handle.

Wagering on multi-leg bets totaled $109.3 million in July, up a whopping 64.6% from last year. It also accounted for 32.8% of all wagering for the month compared to 26.8% in 2023.

Though the public fared slightly better this year, that 23.8% hold resulted in just over $26 million in winnings — an increase of 59.4% — as it represented almost 60% of total operator gross revenue for July. It was also the third time in the last four months the hold for parlays eclipsed an eye-watering 22%.

Robust parlay figures almost always augur well for FanDuel, which was the first to market with same game parlays, and July proved no different. FanDuel extended its run of overall double-digit holds on gross revenue to eight months, reaching 14.7% to keep $21.5 million of the $145.9 million wagered.

That lifted its year-to-date win rate to 14.1% as the digital Goliath neared $200 million in revenue for 2024.

High holds were posted across Maryland as all 12 mobile sportsbooks — from outgoing SuperBook and Betfred to newcomer Veteran Services and everyone in between — had double-digit holds in July.

Betfred exited stage right in grand style, leading all the sports betting apps with a 17.1% hold in winning $15,400 of the $89,800 wagered. That allowed it to leave the Old Line State with just over $1 million in gross revenue and an all-time hold of 6.3% from $15.9 million wagered.

SuperBook’s final-month hold of 15.7% was its best of 2024 as it claimed $40,900 in revenue. It closed its Maryland ledger with $451,200 in gross winnings from $7.6 million in handle, good for a 5.9% win rate spanning 16 months of action.

Five other online operators posted $1 million or higher revenue hauls besides FanDuel, with DraftKings also reaching eight figures at $12.5 million thanks to an 11.7% hold against $106.5 million in handle. It was the first time since January that DraftKings notched a double-digit hold as it cleared $10 million in winnings for the 11th straight month.

BetMGM took the final podium spots for revenue and handle, reaping $3.2 million in winnings from $25.6 million worth of wagers to craft a 12.5% win rate. Fanatics Sportsbook pipped Caesars by $3,500 for the No. 4 spot for revenue as both books topped $1.7 million. Fanatics also had the better hold of the two, landing at 13.1% compared to 10.6% for Caesars.

ESPN BET rounded out the group of six with a near-11% hold in winning $1.2 million of the $10.5 million wagered in July. It was the first time the PENN Entertainment-owned sportsbook had a double-digit hold since fashioning a 12.6% mark in its debut last November.

Veterans Services, which operates the LetsBetMD mobile app, launched July 1 and generated $130,900 in handle. It posted a 15.4% hold to claim $20,200 in revenue for its first month of business.