Online sports betting handle is falling in mature states, but GGR growth continues unabated according to the latest edition of the US Sports Betting Market Monitor from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG).
The report includes several key data points and analysis from the US sports betting market, including state-by-state growth of betting handle and GGR, and the average GGR generated per adult in each state.
Below, iGaming NEXT sets out some of the key talking points from the August edition of the report, using data up to June 2023.
State-by-state handle growth
This state-by-state comparison shows a continuing trend in online sports betting handle, as more mature states continue to see total wagers fall.
When comparing the 12-month period to the prior 12 months, the more mature markets of New Jersey, Nevada, West Virginia, Iowa and Indiana all saw negative declines in year-on-year handle.
Nevada saw the greatest pullback, as handle dropped by 12.7% to around $5.5bn over the trailing 12 months. New Jersey saw a 10% drop, meanwhile, to $9.72bn, while handle in Iowa fell by 8.2% to $2.02bn.
Elsewhere, several states continued to demonstrate imprevssive growth. In Oregon for example, handle leapt 41.7% to $569.7m over the trailing 12-month period.
In Washington, DC, handle grew by 33.7% to $71m, and growth in Wyoming came in at 32.9% as the total amount wagered climbed to $156.5m.
Illinois and Louisiana also saw year-on-year growth of more than 20% in statewide handle, while Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Arizona and Connecticut all reported year-on-year growth of between 10% and 20%.
States including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Colorado and New York all witnessed positive but modest year-on-year growth of less than 10%.
State-by-state GGR growth
While growth in handle remains modest across most states (and negative in some), the GGR generated by online sportsbooks continues to grow at a more rapid pace.
That growth is driven by improving margins among operators, which continue to focus on profitability as marketing and promotional spend have reduced dramatically in the months following each state’s launch.
As a result, even in states where handle is down year-on-year, growth in GGR has been positive.
In New Jersey, for example, where handle fell by 10% year-on-year for the trailing 12 months, GGR still grew by 20.9%, to $848.7m.
Other examples include Nevada, where handle was down by 12.7%, but GGR continued to grow by 22.2% to $218.6m.
While year-on-year growth of more than 20% is impressive, New Jersey and Nevada were in fact two of the slowest-growing GGR states included in the report.
Only Washington, DC recorded a more modest growth rate, as GGR there grew 14.6% to $8.5m. That figure also made the capital the smallest jurisdiction in the country by GGR for online sports betting.
The fastest growing state by GGR was Oregon, which saw revenue jump 82.3% year-on-year, albeit to a relatively modest $64.3m.
Iowa, New Hampshire, Illinois, Tennessee, Wyoming and Connecticut also all saw GGR growth in excess of 50% over the trailing 12-month period.
The remaining states saw year-on-year growth of between 24.6% (Michigan) and 48.1% (Rhode Island).
Online GGR per adult
One important metric for measuring the importance of each market is the amount of online GGR generated per adult in each regulated state.
Here, New Jersey leads the pack with an online GGR per adult of more than $120.
The state’s pole position on the leaderboard was helped by its maturity, EKG said, alongside the fact it has “benefitted significantly from border-crossing New York City area bettors.”
Both New York and Arizona also managed to generate an average GGR per adult of more than $100, putting the states in second and third place, respectively.
Other noteworthy states, which generated GGR per adult of between $80 and $100, include Illinois, Colorado, Tennessee and Virginia.
The majority of states witnessed average GGR per adult of less than $80, however, with around half of the analysed markets registering between $40 and $80.
Bringing up the rear of this chart are Oregon, Washington, DC and Arkansas, which all saw average online sports betting GGR per adult of just $20 or less.
It is worth noting that for Nevada – which showed average OSB GGR per adult of around $50 – EKG estimated the figure to correspond directly to the market of Nevada locals, excluding tourists, in order to make the data more directly comparable to other states.
EKG’s monthly report provides a digest of news and data points, including forecasts, for the emerging market for regulated sports betting in the United States. Please contact managing director Chris Krafcik for more information.