DC Sportsbooks Get Revenge On Sports Bettors With Big November Take
November 2021 sports betting in the nation’s capital saw a dip in overall wagering, but not at all of the district’s sportsbooks.
Additionally, despite a month-over-month decline in total handle, all four Washington, DC sportsbooks saw a double-digit “hold” (revenue) percentage.
Overall, DC sports-betting operators processed $21.4 million in wagers with November 2021 sports betting. That’s down 18.7% from the record-breaking $26.3 million that bettors wagered in October.
Currently, the recently launched Grand Central is the smallest operator in DC. However, the sports bar saw a substantial wagering increase in its second month of operation and more than doubled its monthly handle.
Big take for DC operators with November 2021 sports betting
With five weekends of football on the calendar, October provided sportsbook operators a golden opportunity. States across the US, including Virginia, experienced all-time highs in sports betting volume. Washington, DC was no different.
However, despite collecting more than $26 million in handle in October, the DC sportsbooks kept just 6% ($1.6 million) of it. DC sports bettors, it turned out, won at a larger-than-usual clip during October.
In November, though, the books got their revenge. Their hold for the month was a staggering 20.7%, or $4.4 million. That’s a 182% increase over October.
The DC Lottery-backed GambetDC, which has the only district-wide mobile betting, again took the second spot with more than $5.2 million in wagers in November.
Caesars by William Hill, a retail sportsbook at Capital One Arena with limited online wagering around the venue, was again king of the hill. It took in $13.9 million in wagers at its facility, which offers a Vegas-like retail sportsbook.
Both operators, though, kept more than 20% of those betting dollars as its win for the month. That’s far above the industry average of 6-8% and a sharp increase over October.
Here are the full November 2021 sports betting numbers for DC:
| Operator | Handle | Hold | Revenue | Market share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caesars by William Hill | $13,917,000.73 | 21.8% | $3,035,428.97 | 65.0% |
| GambetDC | $5,244,958.60 | 20.5% | $1,075,999.78 | 24.5% |
| BetMGM | $1,762,497.03 | 14.5% | $256,418.33 | 8.2% |
| Grand Central | $494,997.61 | 13.6% | $67,075.00 | 2.3% |
| Totals | $21,419,453.97 | 20.7% | $4,434,922.08 | – |
Big month for BetMGM and Grand Central
November proved a big month for DC’s smaller operators.
BetMGM, which offers a retail book at Nationals Park, collected $1.5 million in wagers in October. This past month, it grew to nearly $1.7 million.
Additionally, after losing money (about $31,000) in October due to unusually big player winnings, BetMGM kept more than $256,000 in November. That’s a hold of 14.5%.
Grand Central, the first Class-B licensee in the district, also had an encouraging month.
Grand Central, which is located in the Adams Morgan district, collected $207,355 in wagers with a 20.7% hold in October. That was its first month with sports-betting operations.
However, that total increased by 139% to $494,998 in November. The hold for the month was 13.6%.
Those third- and fourth-place operators in DC can’t always count on those mega hold percentages. However, as long as the overall betting volume increases, the sportsbooks are headed in the right direction.
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