$1.1 billion bet in Ohio’s first month for legal sports gambling

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Gamblers in Ohio bet $1.1 billion in the first month of legal sports gambling in the state, though $320 million of those wagers were promotional credits given out by mobile-betting apps.

As a result, the state will receive about $21 million in tax revenue.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission released its first report about sports gambling revenue on Tuesday, detailing January earnings by physical sportsbooks and mobile betting apps. Separately, the Ohio Lottery Commission in mid-February released its report covering gaming kiosks.

Ohio’s 16 sports betting apps accounted for $1.09 billion of the $1.11 billion wagered. However, gambling apps handed out more in credits than they made back from bets.

The betting apps took in $770 million of real cash bets, and another $320 million worth of bets were actually placed with credits. Meanwhile, the apps paid out about $864 million of real money to players.

The state’s 14 physical sportsbooks, like the ones at the JACK Cleveland Casino and MGM Northfield Park, took in $23 million, with roughly $20 million paid back to players.

Gamblers placed $850,000 in bets at sports gambling kiosks around the state, which are mainly found in bars, bowling alleys and grocery stores. They won back just over $720,000.

Neither physical sportsbooks nor gaming kiosks gave out promotional credits, according to the Casino and Lottery commissions.

The sports-betting companies took in $209 million in combined gross taxable revenue, $206 million from the betting apps.

When it comes to taxes, gambling companies can’t subtract promotional credits from their revenue. The state defines revenue as the amountof bets placed, minus winnings and voided bets. The state taxes sports gambling revenue at 10%.

Ohio lawmakers created three kinds of sports gambling. There is Las Vegas-style sportsbooks, mobile-betting apps and gaming kiosks.

FanDuel was the most-used betting app, taking in $494 million of bets. DraftKings tookin $344 million inbets.

January’s sports betting numbers were likelyaided by the to pent-up demand, and analysts generally expect gambling at slot machines and casino table games to eclipse sports betting.

January, which includes college football bowl games and the start of the NFL playoffs, typically is a big month for sports gambling.

New York, the leading state in sports gambling revenue last year, took in $1.37 billion in sports betting revenue in 2022,according to a report from gambling analysts at Eilers & Krejcik.

Ohio’s casinos and racinos, ahead of sports gambling, took in over $2 billion in each of the last two years.

Separate from sports gambling, the state’s 11 casinos and racinos had $197 million of revenue in January, up from $171 million in January 2022. according to reports from the Ohio Casino Control and Lottery commissions.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to explain the amount of promotional are included in the amount wagered.

Sean McDonnell covers business and consumer topics for cleveland.com. You can reach him at [email protected]Read previous stories at this link.