In August, the Kansas Lottery reported that $146.9 million was wagered, up 55.7% year-over-year. August is not a month that sportsbooks typically dominate. However, the MLB, NFL preseason, college football, and the Olympics all helped Kansas sportsbooks see increased action. 

Kansas has six online and four retail sports betting operators in the market. Together, they grossed $10.6 million in revenue, up 38.1% compared to August 2023. Additionally, adjusted revenue jumped 35.7% year-over-year to $6.6 million. Their hold in August was 7.2%, down nearly a point from August 2023. Finally, Kansas’ tax revenue is approaching $7 million for the year with the NFL back in full swing for September.

DraftKings and FandDuel dominate the market in August

Last month, online sports betting accounted for $142.9 million of the total wagers in Kansas. All of the positive gross revenue went to mobile operators. That is despite them being charred $4 million in combined promotional deductions. 

Kansas’ best handle generated in August was DraftKings with $67.7 million. That was up 58% year-over-year. FanDuel was second in Kansas last month with $43.8 million in revenue. From a 9.8% hold, they collected $4 million in gross profits. 

BetMGM was third in Kansas and was the only other operator to have a handle of over $10 million. However, the online operator was unable to reach $1 million in revenue. Coming in fourth for revenue in Kansas was ESPN BET with $7.7 million. This was slightly ahead of Fanatics Sportsbook and $1.5 million more than Caesars.

Retail sportsbooks struggled in August

Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks struggled mightly in August. All operators combined for $14,471 in gross revenue lost behind a $4.1 million handle. That was still up 7.9% year-over-year. It was the second month in 2024 that casino-based sportsbooks finished in the red. 

The other time was in February after the Super Bowl. Hollywood Casino led all brick-and-mortar locations with a betting handle of $2.7 million. However, the operator did have to pay out $2.8 million to bettors. Leading to $124,725 in losses.