For the third time ever, Ohio sportsbooks generated more than a billion dollars in betting handle.
Online sportsbooks in the state were responsible for $992 million of the $1.01 billion in wagers, while the $19 million from brick and mortar books helped the state industry tick over into eight-figure territory. These numbers come from the latest revenue report from the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC).
January 2025 third eight-figure month for Ohio
January was the third-biggest betting month ever for the state and came in just behind the $1.03 billion in bets from November 2024. Total revenue amounted to $81 million, representing a comparatively low 8% hoild in a state where hold regularly exceeds 10%.
However, it is a big jump from the exceptionally low 5.9% hold from December, when books generated a mere $57 million in revenue from $963 million in wagers.
The likely culprit for the low hold months is the Ohio State University football team. While the Buckeyes lost to Michigan at the end of November to boost sportsbook coffers, the eighth-seeded Ohio State won four playoff games, one in December and three in January, to claim the NCAA College Football Championship (CFP) trophy.
More Ohio State games = more betting
What also impacted bottom lines was simply the fact that there were numerous additional Ohio State football games to wager on compares to past years thanks to the new 12-team expanded CFP format. With three games in January compared to years with none, the passionate fan base had more opportunities to wager.
Even though Ohio State was the lower-seeded team in three of its four games, including the title about against seventh-seeded Notre Dame, bookmakers held the team in higher esteem than the CFP seeding committee and had the team favored in every bout. That includes a second-round matchup with the top-seeded Oregon, which had defeated OSU earlier in the season.
With only two NFL games featuring Ohio teams in January, it stands to reason that the college football drove betting interest more than the Cincinnati Bengals or Cleveland Browns, though the Bengals did defeat their chief rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the one January game, which could have sent more money back to bettors.
FanDuel posts 13% hold despite Buckeye success
While this trails the $1.13 billion in wagers from the first month of Ohio sports betting in 2023, it is worth noting that number was inflated by $320 million in promotional credit compared to just $35.7 million this year or the $32.3 million in credit doled out in November.
FanDuel led the way for the month with $358.6 million in bets and $38.9 million in revenue, posting a much higher hold than the state average. DraftKings, on the other hand, took $321.9 million in bets and took back $22 million in returns. The final podium finisher was bet365, which lagged far behind the top two with $83 million in bets and $6.3 million in revenue.
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