Long-Awaited Competition Looked Great on DC Sports Betting Industry in July

Our best sports betting sites have transformed the DC sports betting scene in just two weeks after things expanded in mid-July.

According to the D.C. Lottery July revenue report, legal sports betting surged 254.1% year-over-year in the nation's capital, thanks to the dramatic expansion of the DC sports betting scene beyond just one region-wide provider.

In mid-July, legislators in DC allowed three more sportsbooks to be made available district-wide. Before that date, only FanDuel, which had taken over for the now-defunct GambetDC, could operate past a two-mile radius of retail sportsbooks conducting business at local sports betting venues.

Since then, BetMGM, Caesars, and DraftKings have been able to take wagers from people placing a bet from home.

July handle

It may not sound like a lot, but a $27.3 million July handle for DC sports betting sites is a win for providers and the tax coffers that benefit from a successful platform. 

July's handle is up a whopping 254.1% year-over-year from the perennially disappointing total from GambetDC’s total of $7.7 million last year. July’s figure represents only a slight 7.7% decline from June’s figures, but that's pretty standard across a nationwide summer slowdown. 

Handle figures from DC in July took its year-to-date sports wagering total to $162.8 million, an impressive 65.4% improvement from last when a limited market, combined with an underwhelming and undeserving GambetDC, held a virtual monopoly over the scene. Residents now have many more DC sportsbook promos to choose from.

FanDuel's replacement of GambetDC as the DC Lottery's official sports betting partner in mid-April has a lot to do with the sports betting spikes in the region.

Revenue increase not as drastic

Regulators of the DC legal sports betting industry were certainly growing tired of the GambetDC revenue disappointments. But those disappointments seem to be a thing of the past.

Sports betting apps and the district’s retail providers combined for $3.9 million in July revenues, an impressive $176.2% spike from the $1.4 million in July last year. Like the handle, revenue figures dipped slightly month over month.

FanDuel top dog but others lurk

FanDuel dominated the market in July, and rightfully so. Prior to July 17, BetMGM and Caesars were restricted to their brick-and-mortar sportsbooks and a two-mile radius around them. DraftKings only went live in the nation's capital on July 26.

FanDuel accounted for $20.1 million of the jurisdiction’s $27.3 million total July handle. While this is an obvious improvement from previous years, there were actually a couple of troubling signs for FanDuel in D.C. 

The first is the intense competition it now faces from DraftKings, BetMGM, and Caesars District-wide, and the other is that its overall handle dropped 13.5% month-over-month.

DraftKings accepted $1.2 million in its first six days of operation and will now provide a huge challenge for the race to be DC's best sportsbook. 

BetMGM saw $3.3 million in accepted wagers in July, along with $282,661 in revenues, while Caesars took in $1.9 million in July wagers and reported $113.3K in winnings.