Washington, D.C. sportsbooks rebounded last month as February 2022 sports betting handle in the nation’s capital reached nearly $19.1 million.
Thanks in large part to the 2022 Super Bowl, the four operators rebounded from January’s $18.6 million handle. Additionally, it snaps a three-month streak with declining volume in the DC sports betting world.
However, February’s numbers are still below the record-setting $26.3 million handle DC bettors wagered in October 2021. As well as the $21.4 million last November and the $19.2 million from December.
It doesn’t appear to be a coincidence that the relative lows in sports betting come after Maryland launched a retail sports betting market last December. Maryland’s market likely pulled some bettors from the D.C. market, which doesn’t seem likely to pull any bettors from Virginia either.
Old Dominion launched what is now a thriving online sports betting market in January 2021. It features numerous online sportsbooks including DraftKings, FanDuel and other giants in the space.
In Washington, D.C., only the Lottery Commission runs an online sportsbook under the GambetDC brand. There are three brick-and-mortar books with Caesars Sportsbook at Capital One Arena, BetMGM at Nationals Park and a Class B operation inside Grand Central Restaurant & Bar.
February 2022 sports betting breakdown
| Casino | Handle | Hold Percentage | Revenue | Monthly Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caesars by William Hill | $11.3 Million | 0.54% | $60,924 | 59.2% |
| GambetDC | $3.9 Million | 11.2% | $440,409 | 20.4% |
| BetMGM | $3.5 Million | 5.5% | $189,576 | 18.3% |
| Grand Central | $399,554 | 12.42% | $49,632 | 2.1% |
| Totals | $19.1 Million | 3.9% | $740,541 |
Once again, most of the betting was done at Capital One Arena. Caesars Sportsbook accepted nearly two-thirds of the total bets placed, accepting $11.3 million worth of wagers in February.
The property increased its market share of the DC area by 10% from January 2022. It accepted nearly $9.2 million worth of bets during the first month of the year.
GambetDC experienced a 10.4% decline in its market share month-over-month. In February, it accepted $3.9 million in bets compared to $5.7 million in January.
The sole online operation in the region can blame the huge drop in market share on a failure during one of the biggest sporting events of the year. During the Super Bowl, there was a widespread outage for all Apple users as a third-party vendor failed to catch a glitch that affected iOS devices.
If the software was functional during the game, DC bettors would’ve likely placed plenty of in-game wagers. Thus, boosting the total figures.
Grand Central and BetMGM both saw minimal gains in market share.
Sports betting handle goes up, revenue falls
Despite the 2.5% increase in handle, the hold percentages dropped precipitously. As a result, gross revenue for the operations cratered.
Every single operator saw its hold percentage drop by a significant amount. In fact, Caesars was close to posting a losing month as it posted a 0.54% hold. For reference, the national average is between 5% and 8%.
On the $11.3 million wagered, Caesars grossed just $60,924.
BetMGM watched its hold percentage dip from 7.8% in January to 5.5% in February and GambetDC fell from 16.6% to 11.2%. BetMGM profited $189,576 on its handle, while Gambet posted gross revenue totals of $440,409.
On the other hand, Grand Central witnessed a small uptick from 11.8% to 12.4%. But its revenue totals actually took a month-over-month drop thanks to a dip in handle from $597,353 to $399,554.
March sports betting calendar is prime for a continued rebound
As long as GambetDC can fix its issues with Apple users, March should see an uptick in the market. With March Madness kicking off this week, sports bettors will flood the area’s sportsbooks.
During a time with a hectic sports schedule like the NCAA tournament, the sheer convenience of online betting should bring tons of action to the site.
