In the first full month of an open competitive market in Washington, DC, FanDuel was the clear choice for bettors, taking $21.7m in bets. Four operators were live online.
Washington, DC also has four in-person only sportsbooks and the eight combined to take $40.6m in bets, the highest in history according to the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) report. The group had a combined $4.5m in gross gaming revenue (GGR).
In June, the DC Council voted to open the market, which during its first three years, only had one digital option available throughout the District and that for just 11 months. GambetDC, a white-label platform provided by lottery provider Intralot, was live.
But issue after issue arose and, in March, the OLG announced that Intralot was preparing to take the platform down and replace it with FanDuel. The wagering giant subcontracted with Intralot, but its run as a monopoly was short-lived. FanDuel went live in April, but on 15 July the market opened and the OLG declined to renew its sports betting contract with Intralot.
Three months monopoly paid off
Those three months as the sole provider across Washington, DC clearly gave FanDuel a leg up. Over 90 days, FanDuel had $78.5m in handle. The company, in July, opted to use its market access through a partnership with Audi Field to join BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook live throughout DC. DraftKings joined on 26 July. But FanDuel’s handle in July was nearly three times DraftKings’ $7.4m in handle. Caesars took $5.4m in bets and BetMGM took $5.2m.
The handle numbers for BetMGM, Caesars and FanDuel represent retail and digital betting. The OLG revenue report does not break out in-person and online betting.
DraftKings does not have a brick-and-mortar location in the District. Earlier this month, Fanatics Sportsbook joined the fray.
FanDuel’s GGR three times next closest book
In terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR), FanDuel had $2.8m, DraftKings had $875,000, BetMGM had $450,588 and Caesars had $321,877. FanDuel and DraftKings had much higher hold than their legacy casino competitors, 12.7% and 11.82%, respectively. BetMGM’s win was 8.73% and Caesars was 5.96%.
In the new landscape, BetMGM, Caesars and FanDuel are paying a 20% tax rate while DraftKings, as a mobile-only operator with a new Class C licence, is paying 30%. Retail-only sportsbooks Cloakbook, Grand Central, Sports & Social and Ugly Mug pay 10% of GGR in taxes. All eight books combined to pay the city just under $1m in taxes.
