Maryland’s mobile betting market is just over a year old and most numbers point to a resounding success in the Old Line State. Handle and revenue are at all-time highs and the state’s projections seem to have been undervalued.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming announced their second straight month of a record-breaking handle. Operators reported $559.8 million in wagers last month, a very slight increase from the $550.7 million in November.
On top of that the state’s sportsbooks (as a whole) improved their hold percentage, which gave them a significant boost to their revenue. After paying out winning tickets the sportsbooks held 11.1% of their bets, much higher than November’s 7.6%.
Maryland’s 13 retail sportsbooks and 12 mobile ones grossed $62.3 million. After deductions, including $19.7 million in promotions, the operators netted $43.2 million, which is double November’s $21.3 million.
The 15% tax bill on the sportsbooks goes into The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund which focuses on education. In December the fund received a record high of $6.5 million.
“The numbers we’re seeing over the last six to 12 months reflect the maturation of the market,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin. “Initial projections were that sports wagering would generate $25 million to $30 million … and we expect the annual contribution to settle in at more than $40 million.”
ESPNBet moves into 3rd
A year of legal sports betting had solidified the rankings of Maryland’s operators. But thanks to some large promotions ESPNBet has moved into the top three.
FanDuel was number one with $245 million followed by DraftKings with $167.1 million. ESPNBet supplanted BetMGM for third with $42 million.
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BetMGM ahead in retail
MGM National Harbor was still the dominant location in Maryland, seeing $5.1 million. Maryland Live!, which partnered with FanDuel was second with $3.7 million. Ocean Downs Casino was third with $2.4 million.
Basketball just as popular as football
Maryland Lottery also unveiled the breakdown of bets by sport in December. Not surprisingly, the NFL saw the most action with over $92 million in wagers (16.5% of all single sport bets). NBA was second with $84 million (15%), followed by NCAA basketball at $35 million (6.3%) and NCAA football at $27 million (5%). In total football saw $119.6 million versus basketball at $119.1 million.
Maryland bettors would have done well if they stuck to the NFL, the sportsbooks only kept 2% of those bets, compared to the 11% hold overall. Parlays (and their 19% hold) really helped the books since they comprised 45.5% of all bets.
