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According to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission, ESPN BET had a significant impact on Maryland sports betting during its first few weeks of operation. In November, bets from all mobile sportsbooks totaled a record $550.7 million. The amount handled exceeded the previous record of $497.1 million, which was achieved in December of last year, the first full month when sports betting applications were available to the public. In the twelve months that have passed, the number of operators has increased from seven to twelve; nevertheless, ESPN BET, which debuted in several states on November 14th, has contributed more than others with its forceful entry into Maryland.
Check out the latest sports betting odds at Caesars.
Its $13 million promotional outlay, which is 3.5 times the amount PENN Entertainment gave in bonuses and promotions during the 12 months the company operated in the state under a different branding, somewhat inflates its $33.3 million handle in about half the month, which ranked fourth among mobile books. ESPN BET contributed 6.2 percent of the record $533.3 million mobile handle, but its $4.2 million in gross revenue—or 12.6 percent hold—was more significant to the company’s bottom line. This is the strongest month PENN has ever had in Maryland.
Among mobile providers, ESPN BET accounted for 10.3% of the $40.5 million in gross revenue. However, maintaining such a win rate and market share without oversaturating the zone with promotional offers is currently the problem. In contrast, mobile giants FanDuel and DraftKings, along with Fanatics, accounted for the vast majority of the $28.6 million in promotional incentives from online applications in November, with a combined offer of $12.2 million in freebies to their bettors. At $241.7 million in November, FanDuel also achieved a record-breaking monthly handle for a single operator in the state. With more than $4 billion pouring in this year, Maryland became the 14th state to surpass $5 billion in total handle.
ESPN BET faces two challenges in its quest to increase its market share in Maryland and beyond: first, it must undermine the foundations set by industry leaders FanDuel and DraftKings; second, it must contend with BetMGM, Caesars, and Fanatics for the top spot in that second tier. One could say that the second half of the task was completed in the first half of the month, when ESPN BET surpassed Caesars by almost $8 million, earned $14.3 million more handle than Fanatics, and finished third among mobile operators, only $3 million behind BetMGM.
The task facing ESPN BET in the upcoming months will be to do what all the other big operators have done, which is to reduce the ratio of promotional offers compared to handle to single digits. After slipping from 9.5 percent in October, Fanatics achieved that goal for the second straight month in November.
Nevertheless, Fanatics’ spending in November remained high enough to result in a monthly loss of more than $800,000 in adjusted gross revenue. With a $7.7 million promotional expenditure, Fanatics has amassed an overall AGR loss of $3.4 million since accepting its first bets in May. Fanatics had just a 2 percent hold and $380,000 in gross revenue. Meanwhile, ESPN BET will now attempt to reduce an AGR of minus-$8.9 million.
For the first time in its 13 months of taking wagers in the Old Line State, FanDuel was held to a single-digit hold, meaning the record-breaking handle proved to be short-lived. Although the 7.8 percent win rate was far lower than the previous low win rate of 11.4 percent in September, it nevertheless generated $18.8 million in gross revenue, which was sufficient to top all online operators. Additionally, FanDuel made history by being the first digital book in Maryland to reach a $2 billion lifetime handle.
With a handle of $165.9 million, DraftKings also saw its best-ever month. Its 8.1 percent hold generated $13.4 million in gross revenue. The amount spent on promotions at FanDuel and DraftKings decreased month over month, with FanDuel falling by 20.3 percent and DraftKings by 18 percent, respectively. In addition, BetMGM’s monthly hold percentage hit an all-time low of 7.2 percent as it took $2.6 million from wagers worth $36 million that were accepted. BetMGM had only once before failed to secure a double-digit hold, failing at 9.7 percent in July.
With a $25.5 million handle, Caesars completed the top five; but, due to its win rate of less than 2.5 percent, it only generated $631,000 in gross revenue. With $556,342 in accepted bets, SuperBook was the only mobile operator to disclose a loss in gross revenue for November.
Check out the latest sports betting odds at Caesars.
Better parlay results from the betting public provide a straightforward reason for the 29.1% decline in revenue from October despite a 14% rise in handle. In November, the handle for multi-leg wagers hit a record high of $200.9 million, but the hold fell sharply, to an all-time low of 13 percent. Even still, the operator gains above $26 million accounted for 62.5 percent of the total gross income in November.
Out of the 12 categories that Maryland Lottery and Gaming gave, revenue from single-event NFL wagering came in second at $5.3 million, with operators reporting a mediocre 6.5 percent hold on $82.4 million. The house won the first month of college basketball, posting a hold of slightly over 10 percent and taking home $4.5 million. Tennis ($3 million) and professional basketball ($3.4 million) completed the top five revenue categories.
