- The Ohio February sports gaming revenue report shows a near $400 million dollar decrease in wagers placed compared to their record setting first month in January.
- The Cincinnati Bengals were in the NFL Playoffs during Ohio’s first legal month but failed to advance to the Super Bowl played in February.
CINCINNATI – The recently published revenue report for February’s betting handle creates a correlation with Ohio sports betting and the Cincinnati Bengals. With the Cincinnati Bengals not playing in Super Bowl 57, wagers placed in Ohio greatly decreased from their $1.1 billion dollar opening month in January.
According to the Ohio Casino Control Commission’s February sports gaming revenue report, the handle was nearly $400 million less than what was gambled in January, at $639 million.
Promotional credits had a big role in the decrease, with many bettors taking advantage of the first-time deposit bonuses and other promotion during Ohio’s first month with legal sports betting. Promotional credits account for approximately $320 million of player wagers in January, but this number fell to $59 million in February.
This large number of promotional credits accounted for nearly 30% of the total handle, while promotional credits only represent 10% of February’s betting handle. Although there’s no way to find out for sure, its likely that a large portion of these January promotional wagers were placed on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Based on real cash wagers that excludes promotional bets, there was a true $200 million dollar drop off from January to February. Although decreased gambling numbers could be explained by the excitement of Buckeye State residents to legally place sports wagers for the first time, the Bengals had three highly anticipated playoff games in January. The legalization of Ohio sports betting couldn’t have come at a better time for Cincinnati Bengals fans.
With the Cincinnati Bengals holding the fourth shortest Super Bowl 58 odds, the theory that Ohio sportsbooks are reliant on the Bengals will be put to the test in the 2023-2024 NFL season.
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Zach is currently a student enrolled at Florida State University. He is majoring in Writing, Editing, and Media with a minor in Communication. He has a passion for sports writing and most enjoys writing about football and baseball both professional and collegiate. During his free time, you can find playing team sports, watching games, or playing DFS. Still searching for his first Fantasy Football Championship, he has been the runner-up four years in a row.