Ohio sports betting handle contracts in February

Ohio launched its regulated sports betting market in January 2023 to high interest, and a record-breaking start, which saw as much as $1.1bn placed in total wagers over the first month of betting activity, which coincided with the run-up to the Super Bowl, the biggest betting event in the United States.

In February, though, the results from the Ohio Control Commission took a significant dip in the overall numbers. The total sports betting handle in February reached $639m, well below the $1.1bn performance marker a month before that. As a result, the state netted $8.3m in tax revenue.

Declines were experienced across both the online and land-based sectors, pointing to a larger decline in betting interest in the month of February. With the National Football League (NFL) season wrapping up, though, this is not exactly surprising. The pent-up demand for regulated betting options has certainly subsided in the second full month of regulated gambling in the state.

Plus, the end of the NFL has contributed to a decline, with March Madness only getting underway several weeks after the end of the Super Bowl. Taking a closer look at the numbers, residents placed $621m of their bets online through the 17 mobile-betting apps. However, there are some reasons why the numbers were so high in January as well.

Promotional credits were used in January to the tune of $320m worth total against $720m of cash bets placed that same month. In February, though, only $59m in promotional bets were made, with $562m placed with cash. What this means is that the actual difference between the January and February numbers is actually much smaller.

Realistically, January saw $720m in cash bets against February’s $562m, a decline of roughly $160m. Physical properties in the meantime collected $17.7m in bets, not so bad compared to the $23m the land-based properties posted back in January.

Overall, the Ohio Control Commission has revealed that out of the $1.75bn wagered to date in the state, 97.6% came through mobile betting options, making a very strong case for legalizing mobile sports gambling in states where this measure has been delayed or where lawmakers are only now discussing a path to regulation.

Kentucky has passed a sports gambling framework last week. Meanwhile, Ohio has collected 2.3% of its total wagers through sportsbooks and another 0.1% from kiosks. The total number of bets placed with promotional credits was around 21.6%.

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