US July round-up: sports betting growth in Louisiana, Kansas and Vermont

Summer lull hits Louisiana sports betting in July

Starting in Louisiana, total handle in the state hit $184.5m, up 37.0% from last year but 13.0% less than June. Online accounted for $172.3m of all wagers, a rise of 40.6%, with retail bets level at $12.3m.

Thanks to a 13% hold, revenue climbed 36.4% year-on-year to $24m (£18.5m/€21.8m). However this is 8.4% lower than June’s total, according to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

Of all revenue, $22.5m came from online betting, a 43.1% increase from last year. However, retail wagering revenue slipped 17.9% year-on-year to $1.6m, a 12.7% hold.

Parlay betting was the main source of revenue for Louisiana sportsbooks. For June, revenue from online parlay bets hit $14.7m and $737,540 from retail wagers. In terms of individual sports, baseball was highest across both online ($2.6m) and retail ($389,702).

As for tax, the state collected $3.4m from the online sector and $151,462 retail.

Weak hold means July retail revenue plummets in Kansas

Turning now to Kansas sports betting where total monthly handle hit $122m in July, up 53.1% year-on-year but 12.9% behind June. Online betting jumped 53.3% to $118.8m, while retail spend increased 45.5% to $3.2m. Handle has now declined month-over-month since March.

Revenue in July amounted to $9.2m, a 35.3% improvement from last year, although a relatively weak hold of 7.5%. It was also only slightly less than June’s $9.4m total, according to the Kansas Lottery.

Online betting generated $9.1m in revenue, an increase of 37.9% and a 7.7% hold. In contrast, retail revenue fell 75.3% to $52,372 – that suggests a hold of just 1.6%.

DraftKings, partnered with Boot Hill, continued to lead the online market with revenue of $4.6m off a $57.0m handle, an 8.1% hold. FanDuel’s 11.7% hold was stronger and, despite lower handle of $37.5m, was only just behind in terms of revenue with $4.4m.

BetMGM, one of three Kansas Crossing partners, was next with $964,426 from $8.5m wagered, another strong hold of 11.3%. Caesars, another Kansas Crossing partner, was the only other operator to post positive revenue, reporting $221,462 from $5.0m.

Two of the challenger brands had bad months in July. Fanatics, also working with Kansas Crossing, did not post any revenue despite taking $5.1m in bets. ESPN Bet, partnered with the Hollywood Casino, also failed to report revenue from $5.6m online handle.

In the retail betting market, FanDuel and Kansas Star saw revenue hit $36,340 from $447,532 in bets. DraftKings and Boot Hill took $15,532 from a $223,425 handle.

Incidentally, ESPN Bet and Hollywood Casino had the largest handle of $2.3m but did not post revenue. Caesars and Kansas Crossing took $304,877 in bets but did not report any revenue.

Kansas sports betting generated $919,947 for the state in tax revenue during July. This is almost entirely generated from online betting; retail books paid just $5,237 to the state.

Vermont revenue rises despite handle decline

Completing our round-up in Vermont, adjusted gross revenue for July hit $1.2m. This is up 24.8% from June, according to data from the state’s Department for Liquor and Lottery.

Monthly handle for Vermont, which only opened its legal market in January, was $9.5m, up 5% behind the $10m wagered by players in June. Of all bets, $5.9m came from state residents and $3.5m from out-of-state bettors.

Baseball once again proved most popular with players, drawing $3.1m in total bets. Tennis was next, on $2.0m, then football at $1.0m. 

Players won $8.2m from sports betting, with the state also accounting for $80,074 worth of resettlements, voided bets, taxes and promotions. As such, Vermont took a $366,664 share from revenue in July.