All About Ohio Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

We at BetOhio.com, your home for expertise on all Ohio sports betting topics, put together this guide to explain terms such as handle, revenue and tax collections.

Ohio began its legal sports betting market on Jan. 1, 2023. The Buckeye State offers a variety of operators, and ways to bet, like no other jurisdiction. Ohio has more than two dozen outlets for either online or retail sportsbooks, with the latter being located mostly at casinos or racinos (the term for racetracks with slot machines). Ohio also offers hundreds of sports betting kiosks at businesses around the state.

Many professional sports teams in Ohio have partnerships with national sports betting brands to operate online sportsbooks. For instance, the Cleveland Cavaliers are partnered with Betway Ohio. The Cincinnati Bengals have a deal with Betfred. The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets partner with Fanatics, the state’s two Major League Soccer teams have sportsbook deals (FC Cincinnati with Superbook and the Columbus Crew with Tipico Ohio) and even Muirfield Village Golf Club got in on the action, teaming with Parx Interactive.

As is the case in every state that offers legal, regulated sports betting, the vast majority of wagers are placed by folks using online operators to place bets at of Ohio sportsbook apps, using their smart phones, laptops or desktop computers.

In addition to those pro sports teams and facilities that have joined with online operators, there are retail sports betting outlets for in-person betting. The Cincinnati Reds have a retail BetMGM Sportsbook in Ohio and the Cleveland Cavaliers have a similar partnership with Caesars. The state’s four casinos and seven racinos also each have partnerships for retail sportsbooks.

Ohio Sports Betting, May vs. April

Ohio Sports Betting Handle and Revenue: May 2023

The late spring swoon kicked in for Ohio sports betting operators in May. There was a 9.1% drop in total handle and a 9.0% decline in gaming revenue during the fifth month of the year.

Overall, Ohio sportsbooks took in $612,651,638 in total handle in May, which represented a 9.1% decline in wagers from April’s total of $674,161,449. But May 2024 handle wound up being 36.9% more than the year prior, when the same operators reported $447,477,360 in bets, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission and its financial reporting.

Of that total for May 2024, $595,228,863 came from online operators, down 9.4% from April’s total of $657,085,444. But again, the year-over-year increase was significant, up 38.2% from $430,671,358 in May 2023.

Retail sportsbooks accounted for $16,387,028 in handle (up 1.9% from April’s total of $16,084,196 and 5.2% year-over-year from $15,570,018).

Throw in another $1,035,747 from kiosk operators (up 4.4% from April’s total of $991,809 and down 16.2% year-over-year from $1,235,984 in 2023) and you have the full picture on handle in Ohio for May.

Ohio sportsbooks also reported a total of $67,288,144 in sports betting revenue for May, down 9% from April’s total of $73,922,610 but up 16.3% from last year’s sum of $57,840,806.

Finally, Ohio’s sports betting tax bill in May wound up at $13,487,676, at a 20% rate. Of that. $13,235,820 came from online wagers in the Buckeye State.

Ohio Mobile Sports Betting History