Following on from Kansas Lottery’s first-ever sports betting revenue report (for September), it has gone on to release its total sportsbook handle, which came in at $160m. Earlier, Gaming America reported that the Sunflower State posted revenue of $1.3m, which sports betting analysts considered a very successful opening.
When compared to Arizona’s first full month of betting (which generated $486m), this was deemed an “explosive beginning” for Kansas as it has a market only 17% the size of Arizona.
Kansas Lottery executive director Stephen Durrell commented: “We have put together consensus revenue estimate numbers for the legislature to sort of expand and work on budgets for the upcoming year.
“And I think there was a lot of pent-up demand for sports wagering within the state and people wanted a legal and safe way to place wagers on their favorite teams, and it’s been really interesting to watch
DraftKings led the way for sports betting handle with $74.2m, FanDuel trailed in second with $35m and BetMGM came in third with $27.9m. Trailing below these usual suspects was Barstool Sportsbook with $10.7m, Caesars with $6m and PointsBet with $1.3m.
The leader in retail wagers during September was Barstool Sportsbook, which made its money via its Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway venue. PENN Entertainment netted $4.4m in retail wagers during Kansas’ sports betting launch month.
Meanwhile, FanDuel Sportsbook at Kansas Star Casino was the only other retail location operating in the Sunflower State, and it accounted for $945,132 in handle.
Due to the heavy usage of free bets and promotions, DraftKings, FanDuel, Barstool and BetMGM Kansas had no online revenue in September and therefore paid no state taxes. The state took in $129,617 in taxes, with more than $90,000 coming from the state’s two retail sportsbooks.
