Maryland Sportsbooks Extend Run Of Double-Digit Holds

Operators in Maryland continued their hammering of the sports betting public in July, posting a hold of 11.4% on $247.4 million handle, according to figures released Thursday by Maryland Lottery and Gaming. It was the 13th consecutive month the house had a collective hold of 10% or higher, and the ninth time in as many months since the launch of mobile betting last November.

Gross revenue totaled $28.4 million in July, with the state eligible to tax $22.1 million of that total after promotional credits and other deductions. The $5.6 million in promotional credits was down 27.4% from June and lifted the overall total for the calendar year to more than $82.3 million. The state collected $3.3 million in tax revenue, as that total moved within $120,000 of $25 million for the year.

July also marked the debut of Maryland-specific sportsbook Crab Sports, which accepted nearly $282,000 in wagers and posted a 12.8% hold with just over $36,000 in gross revenue following its July 14 launch. Crab Sports finished with negative adjusted gross revenue of nearly $3,000, as its promo outlay was more than $38,000 in addition to $704 in federal excise taxes.

FanDuel continues to set revenue pace

Though FanDuel had a seven-month streak of $100 million monthly handles narrowly come to an end — the mobile juggernaut finished less than $450,000 short of the benchmark — it comfortably led the state’s 11 operators in gross revenue at $13.7 million on the strength of a 13.8% win rate. FanDuel cleared $1 billion in handle for 2023 with July’s numbers and has posted a hold of 13.3% or higher every month this year.

DraftKings dramatically reduced its gap in handle to FanDuel compared to June with $92.1 million worth of accepted wagers, but its more modest 9.2% hold meant the $8.5 million in gross revenue created a gap almost as large. The clear-cut No. 2 sportsbook in Maryland, DraftKings still has a 10.5% hold for the year with $76.9 million in gross revenue from $733 million handle.

Of the other nine sportsbooks, including Crab Sports, three operators had holds of 11% or higher. Fanatics Sportsbook had an 18.1% increase in handle to nearly $1.9 million in its second full month of operations, but gross revenue slipped to nearly $260,000.

Fanatics’ promotional spend was down 17.5% versus June to more than $508,000, putting it over $1.1 million since launch. Its AGR for July was minus-$253,498, an improvement of 12.3% from last month.

BetRivers was the only mobile operator to have a hold below 8.8%, landing at 6.3% to claim less than $170,000 from $2.7 million handle. BetMGM was the only other operator to post a seven-figure revenue haul after FanDuel and DraftKings, keeping $2.2 million from $23 million wagered to fashion a hold of 9.7%.

Baseball and parlays popular betting options

The AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles have contributed to a healthy baseball handle in the Old Line State. In the second month of the Maryland Lottery furnishing handle and revenue by sport, it showed baseball wagering ticked 6.7% higher from June to $69.6 million. Bettors held their own, as the house had a collective hold of 6.6% to claim $4.6 million in winnings.

The second-largest handle by category was parlays and combinations, with handle totaling $66.4 million. That was down sharply from June’s $93.4 million, but the revenue decline was far softer thanks to a robust 24.6% win rate that was more than five percentage points higher than June. The $16.3 million in revenue generated from parlays accounted for more than 58% of the gross revenue for the month.

Tennis was a very strong second among single-event sports for wagering, with Wimbledon helping boost handle to $39.3 million. Bettors also fared relatively well here, as operators had a 5.7% hold to claim more than $2.2 million.

Operators had a strong showing for soccer, though, notching a 12.9% win rate to collect $1.9 million in revenue from $14.9 million wagered. In the two months of available figures, the house has won almost $3 million from $25 million soccer handle.

Wagering for college football more than doubled for June as more bettors placed futures bets. The inflated hold for the sport was 95%, as operators paid out less than $20,000 from nearly $388,000 handle. There appeared to be more NFL futures wagers placed in July compared to June, as there was a 41.9% win rate from nearly $895,000 wagered.

Retail books also enjoy a strong July

The public also took their lumps at brick-and-mortar venues, which fashioned a 15.9% hold on $9.9 million handle to claim $1.6 million in gross revenue. MGM National Harbor provided a sizable chunk of that revenue thanks to a 19.6% win rate, as it kept nearly $689,000 from $3.5 million handle.

Horseshoe Baltimore had its best month of the year thanks to a 21.5% hold that resulted in more than $253,000 in winnings. Ocean Downs had its second straight month with a 17%-plus hold, coming away with more than $115,000 in revenue, while Hollywood Baltimore narrowly missed a 17% win rate while reaping nearly $107,000 in revenue.