Ohio Sports Betting Industry Experiences Predictable NFL-Fueled Spike

The Ohio legal sports betting industry experienced its first September ever... and what a month it was. Fueled by the return of both college and pro football action the state's retail providers saw a huge spike in both handle and revenues for their best sports wagering apps.

Buckeye State legal sports betting providers saw its third-best month ever in September in its ninth full month of operation. The state's month-over-month handle spike was over 82%. Taxable revenues in September doubled from August and the hold rate for Ohio's sports betting sites managed to hit double-digits for the third consecutive month.

Football fuels 82.3% month-over-month revenue spike

Ohio sports betting sites reported a combined $690.4 million September handle. It is also an 82.3% month-over-month spike from the $375 million taken in by Ohio sportsbooks in August.

January, the first full month of legal sports betting in Ohio, still represents the high-water mark for the Ohio industry with $1.1 billion taken in. March's $739 million handle is the only other month that topped September's haul.

To nobody's surprise, Ohio sports betting apps dominated the overall handle with $668 million, or about 97% of the overall $690.4 million September handle.

Revenues double month-over-month

Ohio sportsbooks benefitted from the major jump in overall wagering activity during September. Taxable revenues for Buckeye State providers came in at $81.7 million, up 100% from the nearly $40.8 million from August. It was the third-best earning month since sports betting legalization January 1.

Only January's $209.6 million in Ohio sportsbook profits and March's $94.9 million were better.

September took Ohio's lifetime taxable revenue total to $699.1 million.

The September hold rate for state providers was an impressive 11.7%, which allowed revenues to double. It was the third straight month and seventh month in its nine months of operation that Ohio sports betting providers have been at or above 11.7% with regard to their hold rate.

Ohio's 20% tax rate on sports betting produced $16.3 million in taxes for state and local Ohio coffers.

DraftKings maintains top spot

For the second month in a row, and second time ever in the Buckeye State market, DraftKings won the race to be the best Ohio sports betting app. DraftKings Ohio accounted for $261.3 million of the overall $690.4 million September handle and $28,481,818 in revenues.

FanDuel Ohio finished as the second best Ohio sports betting site with $207.8 million in bets and $28,461,587 in revenues.

The handle battle wasn't all that close, but thanks to a better hold rate for FanDuel, the two were separated by about $20,000 in terms of revenues.

The two biggest players in the Ohio market combined for about 70.2% of the state's total handle and 72% of the total revenues generated by all of Ohio's sports betting providers.

BetMGM Ohio was a distant third with $46.1 million in bets in September, bet365 Ohio came fourth with $41.8 million in wagers and Caesars Sportsbook Ohio rounded out the top-5 with about $30 million in wagers. Fanatics Ohio and Barstool Sportsbook Ohio both reached $20 million in bets in September.