The second year of sports wagering in Kentucky got off to a roaring start as the commonwealth's eight mobile operators and eight brick-and-mortar venues combined for $34.2 million in gross revenue for September according to figures released Friday by the state's Horse Racing Commission.
The 13.4% hold against $255.9 million handle continued the nationwide trend of sportsbooks hammering the betting public in September. All but one of the 24 states that have published handle and revenue figures for September have attained double-digit holds, with New York the lone exception at 9.9%.
Handle was up 342.5% compared to the state's multi-tier launch in September 2023, but it is not a like-for-like comparison since retail sportsbooks began taking wagers Sep. 7, 2023, and mobile launched three weeks later.
Wagering was up 69% compared to August, while gross sports betting revenue surged 182%. The state was able to levy taxes on $33.6 million in adjusted gross revenue, re-directing more than $4.7 million to its coffers. Kentucky has received $28.4 million in taxes this year from sports betting, and the all-time total through 13 months is $43.9 million.
DraftKings Continues to be Top Draw; ESPN BET Lagging
DraftKings remains the top option for mobile bettors in the Bluegrass State, and it remains the only sportsbook to reach nine figures. The digital juggernaut topped $100 million for the fourth time in 12 full months of wagering, edging over the benchmark by $115,800 and leaving it $755,000 shy of $1 billion overall.
It had a 13.5% hold to claim $13.5 million in gross winnings, its third-highest total overall and fourth over $10 million. September's haul lifted DraftKings' year-to-date winnings over $75 million.
FanDuel was a closer second in revenue than handle for September, notched a 15.6% win rate to keep $12.8 million of the $82.2 million in accepted wagers. It retailed a small overall edge in 2024 gross revenue and all-time winnings with $81.3 million and $121.7 million, respectively, while FanDuel's total handle eclipsed $900 million.
Bet365 remained a clear-cut No. 3 as the England-based sportsbook topped $20 million handle for the second time with $22.6 million in wagers. It had a 9.3% hold in claiming $2.1 million, the third time bet365 topped $2 million in revenue in Kentucky. Bet365 also topped $200 million in overall bets accepted, with $145.7 million through the first nine months of the year.
Caesars ($1.5 million) and BetMGM ($1.4 million) rounded out the top five for revenue as both notched double-digit win rates. Caesars had its first eight-figure handle since March with $11.2 million and had a 13.8% hold, while BetMGM had an 11.2% hold on $12.6 million handle. It was BetMGM's second-highest handle overall, but it has topped $12.4 million in five of 13 months.
Fanatics had its best month in Kentucky, posting $848,200 in revenue from $9.7 million handle, good for a 8.8% hold. It eclipsed $4 million in revenue and $50 million in accepted wagers for the calendar year.
ESPN BET only saw a modest 4.6% rise in handle from August to $6.7 million, but that was still less than half its year-best $15.8 million in action from January. ESPN BET did have a strong month for performance, though, with a 12.5% hold to claim $831,900 in revenue to surpass $6 million in year-to-date winnings.
Circa Sports rounded out the group with another small bump in handle to $1.5 million, but a 2.8% win rate meant it kept just shy of $43,000. In the five months since launch in May, Circa has a 3.7% hold while attaining $196,700 in winnings from $5.3 million handle.
