Despite a drop in overall handle and revenue in the second full month of online Maryland sports betting, the state’s coffers saw a significant jump in taxes.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency announced last week the MD sports betting handle in January reached $441.5 million, an 11.2% dip from December’s $497.1 million total. Operator sports betting revenue, meanwhile, decreased from $85.2 million in December to $59.6 million in January.
Despite the month-over-month drops, sportsbooks dropped promo spending, and Maryland was able to collect $2.1 million in taxes. That is a significant jump compared to the $440,043 in December tax revenue.
Pent-up demand fizzles in Maryland?
Online Maryland sports betting launched Thanksgiving weekend in 2022. The first nine days of online action in the state brought in $219.1 million in wagers.
The online debut came more than two years after voters in the state approved of sports betting, and nearly a year after in-person sportsbooks opened.
The first full month of online betting in December saw that pent-up demand explode into that nearly $500 million in handle.
Promos in Maryland wane too
Likewise, sportsbooks front-loaded promotional offers into those first days of online sports betting in Maryland. In December, operators provided nearly $71 million in promotional play, while the first nine days of online action in November saw $63.8 million in promos.
In January, sportsbooks doled out $21.8 million in promotional play. There is no limit on promotional play deductions in the first fiscal year, but future years are limited to 20% of the prior year’s taxable win.
“We expect mobile sportsbook operators to continue to offer a lot of promotional wagers in the coming months as they venture into a new market and work to attract customers,” MLGCA Director John Martin said in December. “There was tremendous pent up demand, and a lot of people are utilizing promotional offers from multiple operators simultaneously.
“But as many of the operators have acknowledged, this level of promotional play is not sustainable, and based on our regulations, it will be curtailed over time.”
Maryland sports betting consolidates online
Online operators took $422.7 million in wagers, or 95.7% of the overall handle.
In-person sportsbooks in Maryland handled $18.8 million in January, well below the $39.7 million they took in October 2022, the last full month prior to online sportsbooks launching.
FanDuel dominates Maryland market
FanDuel led the online market, taking 49.4% of the online bets, or $208.9 million. DraftKings was a distant second, taking $131.9 million in wagers.
BetMGM was third with $40.7 million in bets, and Caesars took just less than $20 million for fourth in market share.
| Online Sportsbook | January 2023 Handle | Market Share |
|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $208.9 million | 49.4% |
| DraftKings | $131.9 million | 31.2% |
| BetMGM | $40.7 million | 9.6% |
| Caesars | $19.9 million | 4.7% |
| Barstool Sportsbook | $12.6 million | 2.9% |
| PointsBet | $5.3 million | 1.3% |
| BetRivers | $2.8 million |
Sports betting options grow
There were 10 in-person sportsbooks and seven online operators live in Maryland during January.
Betfred launched in February as the eighth online sportsbook.
Other mobile sportsbooks in line for the market include:
- Crab Sports Maryland
- SuperBook
- betPARX
- Fanatics Sportsbook
