The Kansas Lottery reported a record $34.1 million in gross sports betting revenue for September on Thursday as all six mobile sportsbooks posted double-digit holds in routing the betting public.
The revenue haul topped the previous record of $30.9 million set last December, and the 13.69% hold statewide trailed only the 13.71% win rate in the launch month of September 2022. Revenue surged 87.7% from September 2023 and was more than triple from August.
Handle surged to $248.9 million, the fifth-highest total in 25 months of wagering and up 13.5% from last year. It was also up 69.3% from August and the second-highest total of 2024 behind the $252.9 million generated in March.
Part of the record revenue and surge in handle came about from an extremely aggressive spend by the six mobile books. The $13.4 million outlay was the most outside the $34.4 million spent during the launch month and up 14.9% from last year.
The state was eligible to levy its 10% tax on $18.3 million in adjusted gross revenue, resulting in $1.8 million flowing to its coffers. The $8.8 million in tax revenue through the first nine months of the year is running $3.1 million ahead of last year's pace.
DraftKings Protecting Its Sunflower Kingdom
Running September Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 North Carolina ~$575.4M
2 Maryland $532.9M
3 Tenn. $520.8M
4 Kansas $248.9M
5 Wash DC $58.1M
6 Maine $51.8M
7 West Va. $46.4M
8 Delaware $23.2M
9 Montana $6.8M
10 TBD#SportsBettingX#GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) October 10, 2024
Kansas is one of the few states where DraftKings has a clear-cut No. 1 status among mobile sportsbooks, and it has made maintaining that a priority.
It achieved that in grand fashion in September, setting new monthly benchmarks for gross revenue and handle with $16.7 million and $119.3 million, respectively. The near-14% hold was also an all-time high, and DraftKings' $6.9 million promotional outlay was its most since spending $17 million at launch.
Gross winnings doubled from the previous September as the hold was 5.4 percentage points higher and handle climbed 22.7%. DraftKings surpassed $750 million in year-to-date handle and is within $70 million of $2 billion overall.
FanDuel barely missed its second month with $10 million in winnings, coming up $400,000 short while notching a 13.7% hold from $69.9 million handle. September's figures pushed FanDuel over $50 million in revenue and $500 million in handle for the year.
It also kicked up promotional spending with the start of football season to $4 million, an increase of 17.4% from 12 months prior. It was FanDuel's second-highest spend behind the $7.4 million at launch.
BetMGM had the highest hold of the sextet at 15.1% in reaping $2.9 million from $19.6 million worth of wagers. It was BetMGM's best month of 2024, its highest revenue since claiming $3.9 million last December and third-most overall.
It also bucked the trend of year-over-year increased promotional spend by other operators. BetMGM had an outlay of $969,000, down 43.2% from the $1.7 million in September 2023.
Fanatics Sportsbook had its best month in Kansas, attaining a 14.9% hold while setting records with $1.7 million in revenue and $11.4 million handle. Fanatics also set a new threshold for promotional spend at close to $1.1 million, nearly four times the $257,000 outlay from September 2023.
Caesars was the only mobile book below $10 million handle for September, coming $344,000 short, but an 11.3% win rate meant its $1.1 million in winnings edged ESPN BET for fifth by $45,700. It was the first time Caesars reached seven figures in revenue since last October, and it was the first double-digit hold since a 12.6% win rate crafted in the first month.
ESPN BET topped $1 million by $49,200 as it finished with a 10.5% hold from just over $10 million wagered. Its $762,600 in credits and bonuses for bettors were nearly a seven-fold increase from the $111,100 put forth by predecessor Barstool Sportsbook, contributing to a 27% bump in handle from last year.
