The first report on sports gambling revenue was released by the Ohio Casino Control Commission, analysing the earnings from sportsbooks and mobile betting apps throughout the month of January.
There are 16 sports betting apps that are currently legalised to operate in Ohio. These apps accounted for almost all of the $1.11bn placed in bets, seeing $1.09bn taken between them.
The report found that gambling apps took in $770m in real cash bets, but paid out around $864m of real cash to players. A further $320m in bets were estimated to be placed in credits.
Conversely, the 14 physical sportsbooks took in $23m from players and paid out $20m.
Another $850,000 in bets was placed in sports gambling kiosks, which are usually found in bars, restaurants and stadiums. These paid out a total of $720,000 to players.
The Casino and Lottery Commission found that neither physical sportsbooks nor gaming kiosks gave out promotional credits during this period.
Out of the numerous sports betting operators, FanDuel was the most-used betting app, taking in a total of $494m in bets. DraftKings took second place with $344m.
In total, sports betting companies took in $209m in gross taxable revenue, with $206m coming from the betting apps. The state of Ohio taxes sports gambling revenue at 10%, so the state should expect to see this month's betting turned into $21m tax revenue.
It’s likely that these numbers represent the start of the NFL playoffs in January, as well as it being the first month that sports betting was made legal in the state. It’s expected that slot machines and casino gambling will overtake sports betting once the novelty wears off.
