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Maryland’s 12 retail and 12 online sportsbooks combined for $263.7 million in handle and $17.0 million in revenue in August, according to data from Maryland Lottery and Gaming.
While handle was up more than $16 million in August compared to July, revenue dipped by more than $5 million from $22.1 million to $17.0 million.
As a result, tax contributions from the state’s 24 retail and online sportsbooks fell from $3.3 million in July to $2.6 million in August.
Maryland’s retail sportsbooks see handle rise by more than $3.5 million
August was a fantastic month for Maryland’s retail sportsbook handle (amount gambled). The sum of all bets placed hit $13.4 million which was a 34.3% increase over July’s figures.
However, books took home 57.5% less revenue than they did in July, dropping from $1.5 million to $653,079.
MGM National Harbor generated the most handle, while Live! Casino accounted for a little under half of the total revenue for the month.
| Sportsbook | Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Bingo World | $814,462.46 | $69,347.61 |
| Canton Gaming / Canton | $1,630.00 | $1,625.93 |
| Greenmount OTB | $60,164.35 | $10,113.54 |
| Hollywood Casino | $937,732.01 | $46,201.88 |
| Horseshoe Casino | $1,290,844.00 | $0.00 |
| Live! Casino | $2,831,935.25 | $364,413.16 |
| Long Shot's | $142,448.71 | $11,893.77 |
| Maryland Stadium Sub | $148,901.25 | $1,504.49 |
| MGM National Harbor | $5,880,892.65 | $0.00 |
| Ocean Downs Casino | $924,813.92 | $123,830.10 |
| Riverboat on the Potomac | $333,385.50 | $22,056.09 |
| Whitman Gaming | $2,105.00 | $2,092.49 |
| August 2023 Total | $13,369,315.10 | $653,079.04 |
| July 2023 Total | $9,886,440.13 | $1,542,461.54 |
| % Change | 34.3% | -57.5% |
Online sports betting handle rises 5.4% but revenue drops
Similar to Maryland retail sportsbooks, online sports betting in Maryland saw an increase in handle but a drop in revenue compared to July’s numbers.
Live! Casino, DraftKings, and BetMGM accounted for all but around $12 million of the more than $250 million in handle and all but around $1 million of the $16.4 million in revenue that online sportsbooks generated.
| Sportsbook | Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| BetMGM | $20,237,588.53 | $1,184,182.41 |
| Bingo World | $3,459,541.51 | $128,986.48 |
| Caesars | $14,106,357.10 | $541,491.70 |
| Crab Sports | $214,487.27 | $1,017.96 |
| DraftKings | $91,965,959.02 | $4,430,834.76 |
| Greenmount | $180,496.16 | $12,459.53 |
| Hollywood Casino | $5,505,287.19 | $175,944.96 |
| Live! Casino | $104,196,439.54 | $9,667,350.02 |
| Long Shot's | $1,164,397.40 | $0.00 |
| Maryland Stadium Sub | $6,680,743.83 | $0.00 |
| Riverboat on the Potomac | $2,207,579.57 | $148,082.90 |
| SuperBook | $441,366.89 | $94,373.95 |
| August 2023 Total | $250,360,244.01 | $16,384,724.65 |
| July 2023 Total | $237,525,907.62 | $20,541,757.45 |
| % Change | 5.4% | -20.3% |
Promotional payouts and low hold on baseball contribute to revenue dip
When looking at Maryland’s August revenue report, the natural question that arises is: How did sports betting revenue drop if the overall handle rose by more than $31 million?
There were two main factors: promotions and baseball betting.
In August, sportsbooks paid out $8.1 million in promotions, which was nearly 34% of the handle. In July, promotions totaled 14.9% of handle. This is a significant difference since promotions are subtracted from the hold (amount of money the sportsbook kept after payouts) and before the revenue calculation.
Additionally, pro baseball bets jumped nearly $5 million in August, but sportsbooks saw their hold on pro baseball bets drop from $4.6 million to just under $2 million.
