Ohio Casinos, Sportsbooks Clear Almost $169 Million In February

Comparing Ohio gambling revenue in February to the same in January was always going to be like the average person playing a game of HORSE with Diana Taurasi. It was over before the counting even started.

Even though February’s total fell off significantly from January’s sum in the Buckeye State, revenue from poker, slots, sports betting, and table games still represented a large spike from the same in February 2022. Naturally, Ohio sports betting had a lot to do with that.

Ohio gambling revenue highlights for February 2023

There’s no reason to beat around the bush; February saw quite a drop off from the month prior. Gross revenue in January from poker, slots, sportsbook, and table games came to a record $315.6 million. That number was going to be hard to even approach in February.

January saw the launch of legal sportsbooks in the state. It was also the height of the NFL playoffs. Simply put, it was a one-time event that Ohio gambling outlets will never be able to replicate. Additionally, January has three additional days compared to February.

With all that taken into account, February was quite respec
table. All the aforementioned gaming verticals produced $168.8 million in gross revenue through the 28 days of the month. By daily averages, (six million per day versus $10.1 million per day) that represents a decline of around 40.6% compared to January.

As the newness of legal sports betting wore off and the NFL playoffs ended, sportsbook activity fell off accordingly. Sportsbooks won about $86.3 million from players in February on $638.8 million in bets. Therefore, books won about 13.5% of the money they took in bets, which is actually a very solid performance for the month.

Poker, slots, and table games for the month also turned in a stellar performance. That becomes evident when you compare what they did at this time last year.

Ohio casinos didn’t feel the loss of three days

Segmenting poker, slots, and table games out, those channels amounted to $82.5 million in gross revenue in February. Again, by a daily average instead of a month-long sum, February’s Ohio casino figures actually outperformed the same in January.

That comparison becomes even more friendly to the 2023 iteration in a year-over-year comparison. In February 2022, the same casinos generated $75.2 million in win, leading to a gross gaming revenue total for the state that was down over 55% compared to February 2023‘s grand total.

Of course, there were no sportsbooks contributing to the pot that month. Thus, the comparison is yet again unfair. A more equitable comparison is looking at which of those sportsbooks was able to keep some of their momentum going into their second month.

FanDuel keeps out-dueling the competition

There is no surprise in looking at which online and retail sportsbooks led the way in February 2023. FanDuel once again set the pace. It accounted for about 37.4% of the dollars wagered online in Ohio in February. Additionally, its $39 million in gross revenue represented over 7.2% of the whole from online wagers.

Only DraftKings, among online sportsbooks, really compared. DraftKings took in about 34% of the online dollars and won about $25.4 million. In terms of retail books, Hard Rock Cincinnati led the way in terms of dollars wagered at $2.4 million while Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway accounted for the most gross winnings.

Statewide, sports betting taxable revenue came to just under $83 million, meaning the state stands to collect about $16.6 million from that play. All things considered, it was a solid month. It’s a lesson that sometimes comparisons can be really unfair.