DraftKings Surpasses FanDuel in Ohio Online Betting Handle For The First Time

The July 2023 sports betting revenue report has just been released by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. There are plenty of takeaways from the report, such as the fact that DraftKings Sportsbook has taken the number one spot in terms of overall online handle from FanDuel Sportsbook.

Unfortunately though, July also had the lowest overall handle in Ohio sports betting history.

Ohio Sees $331 Million July 2023 Handle

The Ohio Casino Control Commission has rolled out the numbers on July 2023 for Ohio sports betting. Overall, sportsbooks in the Buckeye State took in $331 Million in total wagers throughout the month of July. This was a 8.5% decrease from the previous month, in which Ohio bettors wagered a total of $362.1 million. Overall, July’s total handle is the lowest in the state’s betting history, and a major decrease from January 2023’s $1.1 billion betting handle.

However, there are plenty of reasons for this decrease, as summertime sees a natural drop in betting numbers. For example, New York, which had just seen 10 straight months with a handle exceeding $1 billion, just dipped to $966.5 million this past July. With no massively-bet events such as the NFL regular season or March Madness, months like July don’t generally see very high totals.

Revenue for Ohio sports betting, on the other hand, increased from month to month. There was a $37 million total throughout July, up 13.8% from June of 2023’s $32.5 million. However, this still pales in comparison to the first month of Ohio sports wagering, which collected $209 million in total revenue.

DraftKings Ohio Takes The Top Spot

For the first time since the state’s sports betting market launched in January of 2023, DraftKings Sportsbook Ohio had a higher total online handle than longtime rival FanDuel Sportsbook. Bettors wagered a total of $116.1 million with DraftKings in July, beating FanDuel’s $106.6 million.

However, FanDuel won the revenue battle, with $13.9 million in comparison to DraftKings’ $11.8 million. FanDuel also had $376,818 in retail sports betting handle, while DraftKings does not currently operate a retail sportsbook in the state of Ohio.

Ohio Retail Sports Betting Down, But Revenue Doubles

It wasn’t just the Ohio online betting handle that saw a decrease in July. Retail betting dipped from $13.7 million in June of 2023 to $11.5 million in July. However, retail betting revenue more than doubled, going from $565,820 to $1.2 million month to month.

The Buckeye State is home to 14 different brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, such as the FanDuel Sportsbook at Belterra Park, the BetMGM Sportsbook at Great American Ballpark, and the Hard Rock Sportsbook at Hard Rock Cincinnati.

While the decreasing handles aren’t what sports betting operators in Ohio want to see, the numbers are about to significantly increase. This will be the first full college football and NFL season for Ohio sports bettors, and with popular teams like the Cincinnati Bengals, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Cleveland Browns to wager on, September’s betting handle should be a massive increase from July’s.

The NFL season will see an all-Ohio battle to start the year, with the Cleveland Browns facing off against the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday.