Maryland breaks sports betting handle again in December

The December total, including promotional bets, is 1.7% ahead of the previous Maryland record of $550.7m in November. It is also 17.1% ahead of the $478.3m bet in December 2022, the first full month of legal online betting.

Of this total, some $541.7m was bet online, representing 96.7% of all bets. This included $19.7m in free promotional wagers. The remaining $6.2m was spent by players betting at retail sportsbooks across Maryland, with $32,146 in free bets.

Turning to revenue, overall taxable win in the state was $62.3m in December. This was 49.8% up from $41.6m in November but 26.7% behind $85.2m in December 2022.

Mobile betting generated $60.1m in hold, with retail’s contribution at $2.3m.

After accounting for $19.8m in promotional wagers, monthly revenue stood at $43.2m. The December figure was more than double November’s $21.3m haul and 1,389.7% up from $2.9m in the previous year. The latter was due to operators issuing a large number of free bets during the debut month of online wagering.

Sports wagering tax for the month amounted to $6.5m. Of this, $6.2m came from online activity and $316,369 retail.

DraftKings out in front in Maryland

Looking at individual operators, DraftKings was the clear leader in the online market. The operator posted $10.0m in taxable win from $167.1m in total bets.

BetMGM was second in Maryland with $2.3m off a $35.9m handle. Caesars followed in third with $887,749 off $24.0m.

As for retail betting, Live! Casino Hotel and FanDuel took top spot. The partnership heralded $592,219 in taxable win off a $3.8m handle for December.

MGM National Harbor and BetMGM were second with $482,059 from $5.2m in bets. Not far behind in third was Oceans Downs Casino and TwinSpires with $466,632 from a $2.5m handle. 

In terms of the fiscal year to date, total spend in the six months to the end of December was $2.55bn. Taxable win amounted to $164.0m and tax payments totalled $24.6m.