Maryland handle drops 3% in May as FanDuel continues market share domination
Free State posts second-highest tax revenue total as financial YTD handle numbers top $2.4bn
Maryland sports betting handle slumped to $320.1m in May, falling 3% on a month-over-month basis, according to latest sports betting statistics released by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (MLGCC).
The Free State’s retail sportsbooks racked up a total of $15.1m in handle during the month, with their online counterparts generating the lion’s share of handle with $305.1m.
The MLGCC collected $4.6m in total taxable revenue from both online and retail operators, the second-highest total monthly tax collected so far this year, just behind March’s total of $5.3m.
On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, Maryland handle has reached $2.63bn, made up of $2.4bn in online handle and $235m in retail handle over the same period.
FanDuel racked up the most sports betting handle during May, accounting for $146.3m, or 45% of the total Maryland market for sports betting.
The operator had a hold of 15.9% and deducted $5.2m in the form of promotional play and other deductions from its taxable revenue total.
Longtime US market rival DraftKings took second place in Maryland’s sports betting handle rankings in May, notching up $101.9m in handle, with a hold of 12.2%. Deductions totaling $3.7m were made by the Boston-headquartered operator during the month.
BetMGM took bronze medal position for handle in May, racking up $27.6m and operating with a hold percentage of 12.9%. The operator made deductions from its taxable revenue total of $1.6m in the month.
Caesars rounded out the double-digit handle charts in fourth place, notching $15.6m, a hold percentage of just 4.5%, with the operator deducting $335,411 from its taxable revenue total.
In respect of the retail market, Live Casino! and MGM National Harbor led the way, racking up $4.9m and $4.8m in handle over May, respectively.
Elsewhere, the Baltimore Sun newspaper has claimed Maryland’s operators have failed in their attempts to make changes to the state’s existing rules on promotions, despite lobbying heavily to do so.
One of these changes involved amending the notice period in which operators must notify the MLGCC of a new promotion from 48-hours-notice to a five-day notice period, using the rationale that the sports betting market is too fluid to enforce a stringent window.
Under current rules, sportsbooks must provide a detailed description of the promotion and its terms and conditions before presenting the offer to customers within 48 hours, something which operators unsuccessfully lobbied to change.
“The submission of promotions prior to advertising/marketing efforts limits the ability to adequately consider promotions because of unknown variables which often accompany events that are attractive for sports bettors,” the operators’ proposal, reported by the Baltimore Sun read.
Operators also unsuccessfully attempted to lift the cap on how much promotional money can be issued to players. Under rules set to come into force in 2024, sportsbooks can only issue 20% of their previous year’s gross revenue as promotional play.
Maryland’s promotional cap focuses on increasing the amount of taxable income, as losses incurred by sportsbooks from promotional plays can be deducted against their gross revenue.