Maryland May Sportsbook Revenue Tops $50 Million
State's Sportsbooks Clean Up on Parlays
The month of May turned out to be a pretty strong one for sportsbooks in Maryland. Maryland Lottery and Gaming reported gross sports betting revenue of $51.1 million for May. That’s the second-highest profit the state has shown in any month since sports betting went live in December 2021. The Maryland May sportsbook revenue came in a month that is typically a bit slow for sportsbooks. The sports betting handle for May for $431.5 million, which is up 34.8% from the $320.2 that was wagered in May 2023. The state was the big winner, earning just shy of $7 million for the month.
As usual, the vast majority of wagers were placed through mobile sports betting apps. Retail sportsbooks had a handle of $12 million, while online sports betting accounted for the other $419.4 million. Of the online sportsbooks, FanDuel led the way in the state once again. The company received $195.2 million in online wagers for the month. Gross revenue was just over $30 million for the month before FanDuel took deductions for promotional play. FanDuel had a $27.2 million taxable win.
DraftKings was No. 2 for the month, accepting $137.3 million in wagers. The company had taxable winnings of $12.2 million for the month. A distant third was BetMGM, which had handle of just over $31 million for the month, which resulted in taxable revenue of $2.9 million. Caesar’s edged out ESPN Bet for the No. 4 spot in handle. Caesar’s received $17.5 million worth of bets in May, while ESPN Bet took $16.8 million worth of wagers. ESPN Bet did help the Maryland May sportsbook revenue a little more with taxable revenue of $1.3 million compared to Caesar’s $796,288.
Fanatics held down the No. 6 spot in terms of betting handle with $12.3 million, while BetRivers was the only other sportsbook to pass the $1 million mark with $6.9 million in online wagers.
MGM led the field in terms of retail sports betting handle, accepting $3.8 million in wagers at its MGM National Harbor location.
Sportsbooks Score Big in Parlays
Of the $51.1 million in Maryland May sportsbook revenue, $36.2 million came from parlay/combination wagers. Maryland sportsbooks had a hold of 25.7% for the month on parlays, so the scores and odds weren’t falling the way of parlay bettors. For the 2024 fiscal year, parlays have been the biggest money maker for the sportsbooks. Of the total $531.2 million hold, $374.1 million has come from parlay/combination wagers.
After parlays in May, the sportsbooks did the best in pro basketball, showing just over $4.8 million in profits. The next category was the “Other” sports, which includes the likes of table tennis, MMA/boxing, and the like. The next most profitable sport for the sportsbooks was tennis, followed by baseball. Soccer edged out golf and ice hockey for the No. 5 most profitable sport.
For the fiscal year, pro basketball is running No. 2 in terms of revenue, with the sportsbooks showing $38.8 million in profits. Pro football was No. 3 with $24.37 million in revenue, just ahead of tennis, which yielded $24.33 million in profits. Pro baseball was No. 5, resulting in $16.1 million in profits for the state’s sportsbooks.
For the fiscal year, Maryland has made $54.5 million in tax revenue between online and retail sports betting.
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