- Revenue fell 19.9% to $58.3 million as hold dropped from 11.0% to 9.1%, with gross receipts down 3.8%.
- All seven operators with more than $20 million in gross receipts posted a lower hold than in August 2025.
- FanDuel posted the most revenue at $20.7 million, ahead of DraftKings at $19.1 million, which led in gross receipts.
- At Ohio’s 20% rate, $58.4 million in taxable revenue yields about $11.7 million, roughly $2.9 million below August 2025.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio sports betting revenue fell 19.9% to $58.3 million in August, $14.5 million less than a year earlier, the Ohio Casino Control Commission reported. Sportsbooks kept 9.1% of $637.6 million in gross receipts, against 11.0% in August 2025.
Lower Hold, More Than Lower Betting, Cut Revenue
The commission’s report puts August gross receipts, its measure of total wagers, at $637,576,426. That was down 3.8% from $662,760,428 in August 2025 and up 2.1% from July’s $624,637,340. Winnings paid of $576.4 million and voided wagers of $2.9 million left revenue of $58,331,560, down 13.3% from July’s $67.3 million.
A 3.8% drop in wagering against a 19.9% drop in revenue is a hold story, because bettors won back more of what they wagered than a year earlier. The commission’s year-end 2025 report shows August 2025 revenue of $72,826,629 on those $662.8 million in gross receipts, an 11.0% hold.
Hold Ran 1.3 Points Below The 12-Month Run
Across the 12 months from September 2025 through August, the commission’s monthly figures work out to a 10.4% hold, so August came in 1.3 percentage points under the state’s own run. Four months ran lower, September 2025 at 8.1%, October 2025 at 8.7%, and February and March, each less than 0.1 percentage point below August. August’s $58.3 million was the smallest monthly revenue total in the commission’s 2025 and 2026 reports, below July 2025’s $60.3 million.
Revenue through eight months totals $629.5 million, up 6.2% from $592.6 million in the same stretch of 2025, so the August decline came in a year that remains ahead of 2025.
Seven Large Operators Each Held Less Than A Year Ago
The report lists every online Ohio sports betting operator by license holder and service provider. Seven providers reported more than $20 million in gross receipts in August, and each posted a lower hold than in August 2025.
DraftKings (Hollywood Toledo)
- Gross receipts
- $204.4M
- Revenue
- $19.1M
- Hold
- 9.3%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 11.2%
FanDuel (Hollywood Mahoning Valley)
- Gross receipts
- $196.3M
- Revenue
- $20.7M
- Hold
- 10.5%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 11.9%
bet365 (Cleveland Guardians)
- Gross receipts
- $71.2M
- Revenue
- $4.9M
- Hold
- 6.9%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 9.6%
Fanatics (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Gross receipts
- $41.2M
- Revenue
- $3.4M
- Hold
- 8.3%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 10.5%
BetMGM (Northfield Park)
- Gross receipts
- $39.1M
- Revenue
- $3.8M
- Hold
- 9.8%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 10.9%
Caesars Sportsbook (Scioto Downs)
- Gross receipts
- $25.6M
- Revenue
- $1.4M
- Hold
- 5.3%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 8.7%
Seminole Hard Rock Digital (Hard Rock Cincinnati)
- Gross receipts
- $24.9M
- Revenue
- $1.7M
- Hold
- 6.9%
- Aug. 2025 hold
- 11.6%
FanDuel, listed under Hollywood Mahoning Valley after appearing under Belterra Park in August 2025, led revenue at $20.7 million, $1.6 million ahead of DraftKings. DraftKings took in $8.1 million more in gross receipts. DraftKings’ revenue fell 22.0% from $24.5 million and FanDuel’s fell 16.3% from $24.7 million. Together the two accounted for 62.8% of statewide gross receipts and 68.2% of revenue.
Volume moved toward smaller books. Seminole Hard Rock Digital grew gross receipts 52.2%, bet365 21.2%, Fanatics 11.9% and Caesars Sportsbook 9.2%, while BetMGM fell 10.4%, DraftKings 6.3% and FanDuel 5.5%. The four that grew also held the least, with Caesars Sportsbook’s 5.3% the lowest of the seven.
Retail Fell 30% While Online Slipped 3.3%
Type A online operators reported $629.4 million in gross receipts, 98.7% of the statewide total, and $57.3 million in revenue, a 9.1% hold. Type B retail sportsbooks reported $8.1 million in gross receipts and $985,333 in revenue, a 12.1% hold.
Against August 2025, online gross receipts fell 3.3% and online revenue fell 19.1%. Retail gross receipts fell 30.1% and retail revenue fell 49.1%.
Taxable Revenue Of $58.4 Million Yields $11.7 Million In Tax
Taxable revenue totaled $58,386,955, which is $55,395 above reported revenue. Two listings posted losses, Belterra Park’s FanDuel entry and Miami Valley Gaming and Racing’s MVGBet, and Ohio counts a negative month as zero without carrying it forward.
Ohio taxes sports gaming receipts at 20% under Revised Code 5753.021, a tax rate increase to 20% enacted in the July 2023 state budget. On the August total that works out to about $11.7 million, against about $14.6 million on August 2025’s $72.9 million in taxable revenue. The commission notes its figures may differ from amounts reported to the Ohio Department of Taxation.
Promotional Credits Become Deductible In 2027
Bettors wagered $14.5 million in promotional credits in August, down 30.1% from $20.8 million a year earlier. Those wagers sit inside gross receipts and are not deducted in arriving at revenue.
Under Revised Code 5753.01, 10% of promotional credits wagered becomes deductible on Jan. 1, 2027, and 20% on Jan. 1, 2032, according to the commission’s reporting notes. On August’s volume, a 10% deduction would be worth about $1.45 million in taxable revenue.
September Brings The First NFL Month
In 2025, September gross receipts jumped 45.9% from August to $967.0 million as hold fell to 8.1%, the lowest of any month from September 2025 through August. The commission’s September report, expected around the end of October, is the first to cover the NFL regular season for legal sports betting in Ohio.
