March Madness Proves Beneficial for Maryland Sportsbooks

Maryland's 2024 March sports betting financials are in, and they show that March Madness provided a boost for our best sports betting sites and retail providers in the state.

The Old Line State had its fourth-best month through 28 months of operation in terms of sports betting activity in March. Revenues didn't impress nearly as much as the handle - a relatively poor hold rate held profits for sportsbooks operating in the Maryland sports betting scene.

And has become customary, FanDuel dominated the race to be the most popular Maryland sports betting site. It set a new state record for monthly handle for a single sportsbook, kept its impressive streak of 10% holds intact, and accounted for almost 66% of the state's entire sportsbook revenue.

$536.7 million in accepted bets

Maryland sportsbooks took in a total of $536.7 million in wagers in March, which, as mentioned, was the fourth-highest ever for the state. It is an impressive 21.3% month-over-month increase from nearly $442.6 million in February and is a staggering 39.1% year-over-year improvement from $386 million wagered in March 2023. Residents have plenty of Maryland sportsbook promos to take advantage of.

Last March was the first March Madness that Maryland bettors could legally wager on.

Maryland sports betting providers have now topped $500 million in monthly bets four times in the last five months. The year-to-date sports betting handle in Maryland now sits at over $1.5 billion, 21.3% higher than through the first three months of 2023. 

Maryland became the 14th state to join the $7 billion lifetime handle-club with March's haul.

$45.1 million revenues slightly disappoint

Maryland sportsbooks are reporting $45.1 million in gross revenues for March. It represents a slight month-over-month uptick from the $43.45 million in February revenues but is a 5.1% decline from the $47.55 million in March 2023.

The reason for the slightly disappointing revenue totals? It was the 8.4% combined hold rate for Old Line State providers. It is the second lowest win rate for state providers since June 2022.

From the $32.4 million adjusted gross revenue, $4.9 in tax contributions came from Maryland sports betting apps.

FanDuel posts new record

FanDuel was by far the most popular Maryland sports betting app in February, setting a new monthly handle record for the state with $247.8 million in accepted wagers for the month. For the 16th time in 17 months, it reported a double-digit hold rate of 10.7% and won $26.5 million.

FanDuel Maryland, with March's figures added in, surpassed a lifetime $3 billion in wagers accepted and $400 million in gross revenues.

DraftKings Maryland was second with $155.1 million in March wagers and $11.5 million in revenues off of a 7.4% hold. BetMGM Maryland rounded out the top three with $42.8 million in wagers last month and $2.9 million in revenue.

ESPN BET Maryland brought in $32 million worth of wagers, but thanks to an ugly 1.5% hold, it made just under $500K in revenue for the month. Caesars Sportsbook Maryland came in fourth with $21.4 million in bets, while Fanatics Sportsbook Maryland completed the top five with $14.1 million in March wagers.