DC sports betting makes slow start to 2024

While the US capital jurisdiction saw a significant lift thanks to the latter stages of the National Football League (NFL) season in January 2024, handle was down by 15.4% compared to January 2023. The trend of year-on-year decline in sportsbook handle has been evident since 2022.

BetMGM was the only operator among the four Class A licensees to register a year-on-year increase in handle during the month. The operator, based out of the Nationals Park ballpark, generated handle of $3.3m, which was up 14.0%.

GambetDC, the Intralot-run DC Lottery sportsbook platform, saw a 22.8% decrease in handle. It accrued $7.2m in January 2024 compared to $8.8m last year.

DC sports betting revenue up

Sports betting revenue was up significantly year-on-year despite the drop in handle. Revenue of $2.4m was up by almost $1m compared to $1.5m in January 2023.

GambetDC players won $6.5m during 2024, with the operator maintaining $690,000 of revenue compared to $863,000 a year ago.

BetMGM had a 13.9% win rate to claim $461,000 in winnings, while Caesars’ hold neared 13% and resulted in $579,000 worth of revenue.

In total, DC saw 330,000 bets placed in January, which was down 15.0% year-on-year. DC Lottery accounted for 61% of those wagers, which was up compared to the 58% share it had during 2023. The average bet across the district was $48.36, down 6.9% compared to last year and 10.9% off the full-year 2023 average of $54.29.

DC Lottery represented 45% of the handle for January, with Caesars slipping to 28% — the first time it was below 30% since last June. BetMGM’s share topped 20% for the third time in the last four months.