Maryland Lottery and Gaming reported a modest $19.1 million in sports wagering handle for the state in June and revenue dropped steeply thanks to the public performing well at MGM National Harbor.
While the state agency tries to pick up the pace to bring mobile wagering to the Old Line State, the seventh month of retail-only betting showed an expected downturn in handle. June’s figure represented a 17.2% drop from May’s $23.1 million wagered and was the lowest of any full month of betting since operations began last December.
Gross gaming revenue from the betting plummeted 57.4% to $1.3 million, down from $3.1 million reported for May. The 6.9% June win rate was more than six full percentage points lower than the previous month and marked the first time since February the five brick-and-mortar sportsbooks failed to produce a double-digit hold percentage.
Approximately $48,000 in deductions were counted, leaving the state eligible to tax $1.25 million in adjusted revenue. Maryland collected $189,323 in taxes for June, lifting the total for the year to $2.4 million.
The pendulum swings back for MGM
June #SportsBetting numbers for #Maryland via @MDLottery, a 🧵. 2022 YTD
Handle $158,208,588
GGR $16,483,632
GGR WR 10.42%
AGR $16,087,961
AGR WR 10.17%
Taxes $2,413,766
Deductions $395,6718/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) July 11, 2022
MGM National Harbor in Baltimore has been a feast-or-famine sportsbook since launch. Four of the seven months in operation have ended with win rates of 11% or higher, but June marked the second time it was below 1%. MGM came out just $19,512 ahead on more than $5.3 million in wagers, equating to a hold of 0.4%.
With limited deductions, adjusted revenue came out to $13,283. MGM actually had a loss of $3,811 in adjusted revenue in February, with Super Bowl promotions a likely large contributing factor. Maryland Lottery and Gaming does not disclose handle and revenue by sport in its monthly reports.
MGM also became the second book to surpass $50 million in total handle since launch, joining Live! Casino. The FanDuel-powered Live! venue cleared $75 million in overall wagers with June’s report, and the $8.4 million wagered last month represented 44% of the state’s overall handle. Live! also paced all operators with more than $762,000 in gross revenue and climbed over $9 million total in that category.
Ocean Downs, run by TwinSpires, narrowly kept alive its perfect track record of double-digit holds, making it seven-for-seven after claiming $94,654 in gross revenue from $934,312 in wagers. The 10.1% win rate, though, was an all-time low and a drop of more than six percentage points compared to May.
Caesars-powered Horseshoe Baltimore moved beyond $25 million in wagers accepted since launch and had a double-digit win rate for the sixth time. It claimed $385,000 in gross revenue from $3.2 million handle, resulting in a healthy 11.9% hold.
