Maryland’s November Wagering Bottom Line Impacted by Promotions

The Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency released its sports betting revenue report for November, the month in which the state launched online sports betting, posting $219 million worth of wagers.

Promotional Play Off the Charts

Maryland launched online sports wagering on November 23, featuring seven online sportsbook operators, and for the first nine days of operation, those sportsbooks attracted $186.1 million in wagers, of which $63.8 million in free promotional play.

Commenting on the results, Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin outlined expectations that mobile sportsbooks would “continue to offer a lot of promotional wagers in the coming months,” as the market is relatively new and they crank up their efforts to attract customers.

“There was tremendous pent-up demand, and a lot of people are utilizing promotional offers from multiple operators simultaneously,” Martin continued, pointing to the realization by operators that “this level of promotional play is not sustainable” and will be curtailed by the regulator over time.

The seven mobile operators, Barstool Sportsbook, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and PointsBet, utilized offers featuring a wide range of sign-up bonuses and promotions to attract customers but sports wagering regulations in the state permit unlimited promotional play for operators only during their first full fiscal year of operation. From then on, promotional play should not exceed 20% of a sportsbook’s taxable win registered in the prior year.

Among operators, FanDuel topped the rankings with a mobile handle of $89.9 million, followed closely by DraftKings with a mobile sports betting handle of $69.6 million. The two big boys opened space between them and the chasing pack, as third-ranked BetMGM registered just $15.1 million in mobile betting handle.

Impact on Tax Revenue

Mobile operators registered a 13.9% hold on mobile wagers and based on the 15% tax on their win after deducting promotional play, they contributed with just $4,262 worth of tax revenue. Retail operators generated 99.4% of the state’s tax money, accounting for $700,466 to a total of $704,728 in payments to the State of Maryland in November.

Compared to the tax payment in October, $781,642, tax payments in November registered a decrease of nearly 10%, despite October having no mobile sportsbooks and one retail location less, Long Shot’s in Frederick, which opened on November 18.

Tax money from sports wagering goes toward the state’s Future Fund and is then allocated as financial support for public education programs.