In general, the current trend shows that sports betting continues to be the pastime of choice of millions of Americans. The sports betting industry has exploded with new states legalizing wagering on sports each year.
Despite the generally favorable state of affairs, the growth trend is by no means universal or without its exception. In Washington DC, for example, sportsbooks opened 2023 with suboptimal performances as revenues from sports betting dipped.
As reported, sports betting companies experienced slight declines in both handle and revenue. Operators’ performances were weaker than the ones recorded during the previous month and lagged behind those recorded during the same period last year.
Sports Betting Took a Dip
Figures reported by iGaming Business show that overall player spending sat at $18.5 million. This represents a barely noticeable 0.5% year-on-year decline from January 2022 when DC players wagered a total of $18.6 million. The figure also amounts to a month-on-month decline of 1.1% from December last year when the DC sportsbooks took $18.7 million in handle.
While the DC sports betting industry experienced but a slight decline in player spending, revenues from the vertical plummeted. The reported numbers show that gross gaming revenue from the sports betting sector was mere $1.5 million. This figure translates into a YOY decrease of 25% and a MOM decline of a whopping 37.5%.
For reference, Washington DC sports betting recorded revenues of $2.0 million in January 2022 and $2.7 million in December 2022.
It is possible that the decline is attributable to the seasonality of elite sporting events, considering that the FIFA World Cup took place a month earlier.
Companies Performed Suboptimally
iGaming Business also reported figures about sports betting operators’ individual performances. It turns out that Gambet, a sports betting entity operated by the DC Lottery and powered by Intralot, was the best performer. The company reported $8.8 million in sports betting handle, which resulted in revenue of $862,723.
Caesars Entertainment was the second-best company in terms of revenue with $371,851. The gambling juggernaut also reported sports betting handle of $6.4 million. Next up was FanDuel, which saw players spend $1.6 million in wagers, resulting in revenue of $236,139 for the company.
Meanwhile, Grand Central Bar reported $41,679 in revenue from a handle of $401,724. Cloakbook, on the other hand, recorded a handle of $10,524 resulting in just $2,812 in revenue.
BetMGM failed to record positive revenue and instead lost $20,763.