Volume is important but winning is paramount to every successful sportsbook, including Maryland sports betting. And that is precisely what the Old Line State books have been doing as the retail and mobile books continue to hammer the betting public with a hold of 10% or more over the last 13 months.
Books Giving Bettors the Blues
Retail sportsbooks began the trend 13 months ago and mobile betting got into the act when it launched nine months ago. Between the two, the sportsbooks’ hold, or win rate, has averaged double digits which means the books are making money and the public is getting pounded.
According to Maryland Lottery and Gaming, July proved to be more of the same as the books averaged an 11.4% hold on $247.4 million in wagers placed between retail and online sportsbooks in the Old-Line State.
Speaking of which, the state’s tax coffers swelled by $3.3 million on gaming revenues of $22.1 million in July after discounting approximately $6 million of the $28.4 million in gross revenue for promotional credits along with various other deductions. Taxes reaped through Maryland’s sportsbooks are now within striking distance of $25 million for the year.
FanDuel Leads the Pack
Online gaming titan, FanDuel, was once again Maryland’s most popular sportsbook, handling nearly $1 billion in bets on a 13.8% hold which resulted in $13.7 million in revenues, easily outdistancing the other 10 online sportsbooks operating in the state.
Amazingly, FanDuel has not had a hold lower than 13.3% since it launched in Maryland and continues to set the pace month after month.
DraftKings, although coming second to FanDuel, has been steadily making traction in virtually all its markets and bridging the gap between them and the industry leader, even ousting FanDuel from the No. 1 position in the most fertile sports betting market in the nation, New York. FanDuel reclaimed its top spot in the Empire State in July but not by much.
In Maryland, the Boston-based gaming giant did $92 million in total wagers which produced $8.5 million in gross revenue on a hold of 9.2% in the summer heat of July.
The handle from the 10 mobile sportsbooks dwarfed the 11 retail books in the state, accepting 96% of the $247.4 million in combined wagers. July’s numbers slumped slightly from June but the dog days of summer are the quietest of the year with NFL and college football kickstarting the industry until September.
Maryland’s Sports Betting Handle & Revenue: July 2023 vs. June 2023
As we can see, the retail sportsbooks more than doubled their revenue from last month but that was the only sector in which a sports betting metric rose in July over the previous month.
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