The DC Lottery and District of Columbia Government's Office of Lottery and Gaming reported a combined sports betting handle of $40.6 million from all sources in August, an all-time monthly high in the nation's capital.
That bettered the $35.4 million reported for May when FanDuel conducted its first full month of wagering as the DC Lottery's official partner. When the district opened up mobile sports betting to all operators in July, FanDuel reverted back to its license via Audi Field, home of MLS club DC United.
That opening of the marketplace led to the entrance of DraftKings, whose first full month of activity helped create the record handle after a July 26 launch. It accepted $7.4 million worth of wagers in August as the overall total for handle in the district for the calendar year topped $200 million.
The $4.5 million in combined gross sports betting revenue claimed from the eight operators in action ranked second all-time in 52 months, trailing only the $5.4 million collected in May. The varying tax rates, depending on licensees plus holdover GambetDC's revenue, created more than $1.1 million in receipts, the 11th time in district history a monthly total reached seven figures.
Resetting Washington DC's Sports Betting Scene
Running Top 10 August #SportsBetting handles:
1 NY $1.44B
2 MD $377.4M
3 NC $370.5M
4 TN $342M
5 IN $307.9M
6 IA ~$167M
7 KS ~$147M
8 OR $56.2M
9 WASHINGTON DC $40.6M <-NEW
10 ME $35.6M#SportsBettingX#GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 16, 2024
There are still some moving parts among operators in the nation's capital, but August marked the first month with new tax rates. Class A licenses, which include operators FanDuel, Caesars and BetMGM, are now taxed at 20%. DraftKings, which is a mobile-only operator, is taxed at 30% as a newly created Class C licensee. Class B licensees, including Grand Central and The Cloakroom, remain taxed at 10%.
FanDuel provided the bulk of the revenue, winning nearly $2.8 million while posting a 12.7% hold from $21.7 million handle. DraftKings notched an 11.8% win rate to claim $875,200 in winnings.
BetMGM accepted $5.2 million in wagers, its highest handle since a record $6.8 million reported in October 2022. It had an 8.7% hold to post $450,600 in revenue, only the fourth time it reached $450,000.
Caesars had a year-best handle of $5.4 million, while its $106.56 per wager was its best since averaging $111.38 in August 2022. Its sub-6% win rate was less than half the 13.7% attained the previous August as its $321,900 in revenue was down 23% despite the 77.1% spike in handle.
Notable Year-to-Date Gains Except for Tax Revenue
The overhaul of the D.C. sports betting scene has promoted plenty of activity. Year-to-date handle is up 91%, while the $25.9 million in revenue over the first eight months of 2024 is more than double last year and up 128.3%.
The revamping of the tax rates should help the district claim more than the $8.6 million in receipts from 2023, a figure that includes 100% of GambetDC's $7.4 million in revenue. The $5.4 million generated thus far is $116,100 behind last year's total, with GambetDC's haul of $2.4 million off by 49%.
But if the district can match the $1.1 million in receipts from August as an average over the final four months of the year, it would finish with $9.8 million in tax revenue — $1.25 million more than 2023.
