Kansas launched its legal online and retail betting market in September last year. While the market has seen ups and downs, closer to the summer there are fewer sports events which resulted in a decrease in the betting handle, judging by unaudited figures released by the agency in charge of monitoring the activity, the Kansas Lottery.
The overall betting handle reported by retail and online betting operators last month was $120,323,444. This result marked a decrease of nearly 10% or more than $12 million, when compared to the result reported just a month earlier, in April, when the betting handle was $132,981,289.
A breakdown of the $120.3 million in betting handle reveals that online betting activities were responsible for the lion’s share. This comes as no surprise and is usually what happens in states where retail and mobile betting activities are offered. Judging by the preliminary figures from the Kansas Lottery, online betting operators hit $115.6 million in betting handle, while the retail sector reported a total of $4.7 million.
Not unexpectedly, comparing the online and retail betting handle to the previous month, April, shows a decrease. Overall, the online betting handle in April was $126.3 million, while the retail betting handle hit $6.7 million, revealing that in May, a decrease of approximately $10 million and $2 million was observed respectively.
Despite Betting Handle Dip, Revenues and Taxes Remain Strong
While the total betting handle fell in May when compared to April, the operators’ revenue and tax revenue for the state did not see a significant decrease. Overall, the $120.3 million in betting handle translated to $8.9 million in proceeds for the betting operators, while the state’s share was $887,390. Comparison to the results in April shows a slight decrease, considering that back then, the operators’ revenues hit $9.2 million, while the state share was $919,720.
A further breakdown shows that the revenue share of online betting operators was $8.7 million last month, while retail operators saw only $130,047 in revenue. This resulted in a state share of $874,385 and $13,005 respectively.
Judging by the Kansas Lottery’s recent report, DraftKings was an unquestionable leader within the online betting market in May. Overall, the operator reported $48 million in betting handle, resulting in $4.3 million in revenue. Comparing the results to April, a slight decrease is observed considering that DraftKings’ betting handle at the time was $53 million.
Not far behind was FanDuel, which reported $35.3 million in betting handle last month. This resulted in some $3.5 million in revenue. Similarly to DraftKings, FanDuel’s betting handle in April was higher than in May, given that it hit $40 million.