Kansas Sports Betting Handle Increases by $50 Million in March

The Kansas Lottery reported sports betting handle of $252.9 million in March, up by almost $50 million from February’s collection of $203 million. That was the third-highest handle in any calendar month in the state’s history, surpassed only by  November and December last year. Kansas sportsbooks contributed $243.1 million in handle while retail locations chipped in with close to $10 million in wagers.

In terms of gross revenue, the state’s six online sportsbooks and four retail books combined to collect over $16 million. After promotional deductions, combined net revenues totaled $7.14 million. Overall, Kansas collected $714,697 in tax receipts in March across all books.

DraftKings Continues Kansas Dominance

DraftKings (DraftKings 39,28 +3,37%) had another strong month in the Sunflower State, collecting $98.2 million in handle. However, hold rate was quite low for DraftKings after paying out $90.5 million back to customers. The company spent $2.1 million in promotional expenses to finish with net revenue of $4.7 million. DraftKings led Kansas in all metrics, including tax payments, which stood at $473,600, more than double their closest competitor.

In total, DraftKings’ handle in this fiscal year in Kansas is $785.6 million with gross revenue over $70 million. DraftKings has spent close to $30 million in promotional expenses with net revenue of close to $40 million and tax payments of a little under $4 million so far.

FanDuel (Flutter Entertainment 25,39 +0,12%) collected $70.2 million in handle but had a gross revenue of under $5 million after paying back $65.4 million to patrons. FanDuel’s net revenue finished at $2.1 million after spending $1.7 million on promos. Overall, FanDuel paid out $215,390 in tax to Kansas in March.

FanDuel has crossed the $500 million mark in this fiscal year in terms of sports betting handle, which presently stands at $544.4 million. Even after paying out close to $500 million back to customers, FanDuel has net revenue of over $30 million.

Caesars Sportsbook (Caesars Entertainment 44,47 +1,41%) was the only other profitable company in Kansas in March after collecting $11.9 million in handle and finishing the month with gross revenue of a little under $900,000. The company collected $257,071 and paid out $25,707 in tax at a rate of 10%.

Three companies – ESPN BET, BetMGM, and PointsBet (now Fanatics) – did not pay any tax to the state. All three companies accounted for their bottom-line revenues at $0. Of the three, BetMGM had the highest collection, at $43.6 million. BetMGM finished with gross revenue in excess of $1 million but spent almost the entirety of that in promotional expenses ($996,991).

ESPN BET had $17.9 million in betting handle but paid back $16.3 million to customers. PointsBet collected $1.3 million in settled wagers and paid back $1.1 million. According to the report by the Kansas Lottery:

On March 28, 2024, the online sportsbook operation for Kansas Crossing Casino rebranded from PointsBet to Fanatics. All account balances on the PointsBet platform and all wagers placed through the platform prior to the rebranding were carried over to Fanatics.

Retail Books Contribute $0

In total, retail locations added $9.7 million in handle for the state, led by Hollywood Casino (provided by the Penn Entertainment-owned ESPN BET). Hollywood managed $7.3 million in handle and paid out $6.7 million back. However, after a net carryover from the previous month of over $2 million, there was no taxable revenue.

That was also the case for Boot Hill (provided by DraftKings), Kansas Star Casino (provided by FanDuel), and KS Crossing (provided by Caesars). Gross revenue, however, stood at a little under $700,000 for the four retail books combined.

Kansas Trends Mimic Other States

Like most other states, even Kansas saw a slowdown in February with the end of the NFL season. However, that was followed by a rebound in March as handle jumped by almost $50 million. Kansas has now seen seven straight months with handle in excess of $200 million.

Kansas’ March tally was also significant because it represented a substantial growth in betting appetite from last year. In March last year, Kansas managed $206.2 million in handle. However, March 2023 also saw the state’s operators hold more than 10% of the handle, resulting in tax receipts of $911,159, which was much higher than last month’s tally.

Hold rate has been a bit of a concern for sportsbooks in the last few months, with three of the last four months staying under 10%, including a paltry February in which the state’s betting operators managed a win rate of just 4.2% on handle of over $203 million.

READ MORE:

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