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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohioans bet more than $1 billion on sports during the first month it was legal to do so, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
Sports gambling licensees in the state also netted $208 million in adjusted revenue during January 2023, the commission reported Tuesday. Revenue from bets wagered on sports is taxed at 10%.
The lion’s share of revenue came from online sportsbooks during the program’s inaugural month. Online revenue totaled around $205 million, while retail revenue — coming from casinos — accounted for the other $3 million, according to the commission.
Sportsbooks FanDuel and DraftKings dominated the market, with hundreds of millions of dollars in bets wagered with each individual sportsbook.
“About 90% of wagers will be placed online,” OCCC Executive Director Matt Schuler said in an earlier interview with NBC4, ahead of the state’s universal start date. “It is going to be the robust part of this market.”
In January, that breakdown was closer to 98%, based on revenue reports from the state’s two gambling regulatory bodies.
The commission releases revenue figures monthly for the prior month’s casino and — now — sports betting revenue. The January report gave the first clear picture of how much money the program has brought to Ohio so far, after it became officially legal at the turn-of-the-year.
It does not offer revenue figures for sports gambling kiosks, such as those at bars or restaurants or grocery stores, because they are overseen by the Ohio Lottery Commission. Bettors wagered around $850,000 on those kiosks in January — with some local businesses saying ahead of Jan. 1 their kiosks wouldn’t be available until later in the year.
The OCCC, which also serves as a regulatory body, levied several six-figure fines against three online sportsbooks in the first two months of 2023 for breaking a number of advertising rules.
