The Ohio Casino Control Commission reported adjusted gross sports betting revenue of $113.5 million for January on Thursday, becoming the quickest state to $1 billion in operator winnings.

A 45.8% plunge in revenue from 2023 considering Ohio had set the post-PASPA monthly all-time high at $209.1 million last year is not bad. It was only this year that New York reclaimed that No. 1 spot. Operator winnings, though, were up 30% compared to December as the 14% hold was nearly 3.5 percentage points higher.

The Buckeye State is the 11th state where operators reached $1 billion in sports betting revenue and by far the fastest in just 13 months, with Arizona holding the previous standard at 25 months. New York needed 10 months to reach that threshold after introducing sports betting apps in January 2022.

Year-over-year handle was down 27.2% to $811.6 million, though the downturn in wagers could be attributed to the sharp fall-off in promotional spend to start the second year of betting. Wagering was down 2.3% compared to December but still fourth overall.

The $40 million in promotional credits and bonuses were down a whopping 87.5% from the first month of 2023 as operators were not engaged in a free-for-all to build a customer state in a new marketplace. Also, operators with sports betting apps are contending with a 20% tax rate compared to the 10% levy that came with last year’s launch. Overall, the promotional outlay was $280 million less than January 2023, an amount slightly larger than the handle in Kansas.

The nine-figure revenue haul was the first for Ohio sportsbooks since last year’s launch, but the win rate was the 11th in double digits out of 13 months. It was the second-highest hold attained by the house, trailing only the 18.8% that came with the 2023 debut.

The state collected $22.7 million in tax revenue, lifting the overall total to $159.5 million. Almost $102 million of that has come since Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine doubled the tax rate to 20% effective last July.

1 New York $1.97B
2 New Jersey $1.72B
3 Penn. $858.2M
4 OHIO $811.6M
5 Nevada $782.8M
6 Mass. $651.7M
7 Michigan $601.6M
8 Maryland ~$545M
9 Indiana $480.6M
10 Tennessee $465.8M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) February 29, 2024

FanDuel cemented itself as the premier mobile option for Buckeye State bettors with a jaw-dropping $168.7 million promotional spend last year that led to a $103.2 million revenue haul.

This year’s outlay was less than one-tenth of that amount at $16.6 million, still good enough to lead the 19 mobile betting apps in the state, but this year FanDuel came out well ahead when stacking up revenue versus spend. It collected $53 million in adjusted gross revenue thanks to an 18.7% win rate against $282.7 million handle — its 12th hold above 11% in the first 13 months of action.

Because of the doubling of the tax rate, the $10.6 million FanDuel paid in levies to the state was an all-time monthly high for any mobile operator.

DraftKings was a distant second despite also having its best month since the promotion-enhanced launch last year. It reaped $34 million in AGR with a 13.4% hold from $254.2 million worth of wagers, with its revenue-to-promotional spend this year being $3.34-to-$1 compared to $0.64-to-$1 in 2023.

DraftKings also notched its 10th double-digit hold in 13 months of betting in Ohio, with January its third month over 13%.

1 New York $211.7M
2 New Jersey $170.8M
3 OHIO $113.4M
4 Penn. $97.6M
5 Maryland $80M
6 Mass. $72.7M
7 Nevada $64.7M
8 Indiana $53.5M
9 Louisiana $52.7M
10 Michigan $48.2M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) February 29, 2024

ESPN BET managed to maintain its hold on third for handle at $59.8 million, a 17.9% decline from December. It was still good for a 7.6% mobile market share, slightly above its goal of 7% for its first year of business.

After two double-digit holds to mark its entrance, the PENN Entertainment-owned book had a more pedestrian 7.8% hold in January to claim $4.6 million in winnings. ESPN BET’s promotional spend plunged 77.4% to $2.6 million, ranking fifth overall, as it marked the first month with a net positive AGR when subtracting outlay from revenue.

Though bet365 was fourth in handle at $50 million, the England-based book rounded out the podium spots for revenue with $6.3 million on the strength of a 12.6% win rate. Its promotional spend was again notable at $4.1 million, though it was barely more than one-quarter the $16 million outlay of credits lavished on bettors the previous January.

BetMGM rounded out the top five for handle at $49.7 million and also beat ESPN BET for the No. 4 revenue spot with $5.9 million thanks to an 11.9% hold. Its $3.6 million promotional spend was less than one-seventh the $27.3 million from January 2023, but it was also BetMGM’s highest spend since flashing $5 million in credits in September.

Caesars Sportsbook ($35.5 million), Fanatics Sportsbook ($15.7 million) and Hard Rock Bet ($11 million) rounded out the group of mobile operators with eight-figure action for January. Fanatics Sportsbook was among six operators to spend at least $1 million in promotional offers, while Caesars slotted eighth behind Tipico with an outlay of $424,000.

Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbook completed the group of seven to reach a seven-figure revenue haul. Caesars neared $2.5 million with a 7.5% win rate, while Fanatics had a 10.8% hold in keeping $1.7 million.

The statewide mobile win rate among the 19 sports betting apps was just shy of 14%, with operators generating a $110.7 million windfall from $792.1 million worth of wagers placed.

Ohio’s 16 brick-and-mortar venues also fared well as a collective, posting a 13.7% hold to pick up $2.5 million in winnings from $18.4 million handle. The state’s nearly 850 kiosks run by the Ohio Lottery accepted $1.2 million worth of bets and generated $213,000 in winnings — easily surpassing the previous monthly high of $172,000 set last March.