The inevitable summer slump in legal sports betting action has come to Kansas, although some sportsbooks are trying to increase their market share with more promotional dollars.
The Kansas Lottery announced that the Sunflower State accepted $120.3 million in wagers last month, a nearly 10% drop from April’s $132.9 million.
Despite the handle reduction, revenue was little changed thanks to a 12.2% hold from the sportsbooks, a boost over April’s 11%. After paying out winners and taking deductions, the state’s sportsbooks reported $8.8 million in profit. April was slightly higher with $9.1 million. From the $9 million, Kansas’ tax bill hit $887,390.
DraftKings remains No. 1
Backed by a boost in promotional money, DraftKings saw the largest handle among the state’s six operators.
DraftKings accepted $48.1 million in wagers amongst online and retail markets. FanDuel came in second with $36.1 in bets. Unlike April, DraftKings turned its largest handle into the most revenue, thanks to a 13.2% hold, though rival FanDuel did slightly better with 13.6%.
BetMGM came in third with $13.1 million, followed by Caesars with $11.3 million. Barstool ($6.5 million) and PointsBet ($1.2 million) rounded out the bottom of the list.
A drop in handle in the summer months is not surprising, but DraftKings and BetMGM decided to throw significantly more money to its customers in May. They were the only sportsbooks to increase their promo deductions month over month (50% for DraftKings and 28.3% for BetMGM).
On the retail side, Barstool’s Hollywood Casino had more action than the other three casinos combined, $3.3 million vs. $1.4 million from the others. But only FanDuel’s sportsbook at the Kansas Star actually saw a profit ($130,047).
