Sports Betting News: New Survey Shows 69% Of NFL Fans Will Bet

Let’s look at the latest sports betting news around the industry. DraftKings was the biggest sportsbook in Ohio for July, topping FanDuel. Plus, a new NFL survey reveals how fans partake in NFL betting. Virginia sportsbook handle saw less than $300 million wagered for the first time in 2023. We will break down all these sports betting stories below.

DraftKings Dominates The Buckeye State

The July sports gaming revenue reports were released by the Ohio Lottery. A close look at the reports shows that FanDuel has lost its top spot in Ohio. DraftKings saw $116.2 million in wagers, surpassing FanDuel’s $106.7 million. This is the first time DK has claimed the top spot.

This is the second market recently to see DraftKings claim dominance. In New York, DK overtook FanDuel for a single week in August. That was also the first time DK claimed the top spot over FanDuel in that market.

Combined, DraftKings and FanDuel were the two biggest sportsbooks in Ohio with $222.7 million wagered. The total handle for July was $331,083,998 in Ohio. That’s 67.2% of the entire betting market for the month.

Sports betting activity is slightly down month over month in July compared to the $362,111,919 wagered in June. In fact, July marks the lowest sports betting month in Ohio since its launch. However, this is only the second-lowest sportsbook revenue month. A higher hold rate of 11.2% in July (up from a 9% rate in June) led to an increase in revenue month over month.

Sportsbooks collected $37,094,807 in revenue in July compared to just $32,559,655 collected in June. The low betting activity is expected to pick up as operators get closer to the NFL betting season.

NFL Survey Examined

A new survey released by Optimove revealed some interesting details about NFL sports betting fans. The international marketing firm surveyed 287 U.S. sports betting fans. The criteria were that these fans made at least $75,000 a year and were 21 years old or older.

Examining the survey shows that NFL betting fans wager consistently. 37% of the respondents said they wager several times per week with 26% saying they wager only once per week. Additionally, 69% of NFL betting fans are wagering on regular season games while 15% only plan to wager on the Super Bowl.

70% of surveyed bettors say they plan to wager on the 2023-2024 season with 28% being undecided and 2% saying no.

The most common form of wagering for the respondents was betting on the spread with 62%. Surprisingly, total points were second with 53% with moneyline wagers only seeing 46%.

When it comes to live in-game betting, 61% of respondents say they engage in the practice. Looking at how bettors research ahead of betting, unsurprisingly online is the primary choice. 66% of respondents gather information on sports websites or apps before wagering.

Virginia Sports Betting Decline

As for sports betting news in Virginia, the lull of July has affected many markets. For the first time this year, less than $300 million was wagered at Virginia sportsbooks. The reports released by the Virginia Lottery show that $293,611,789 was wagered in July. This is a 9.8% decrease month over month.

Online sportsbooks dominated again, taking in $290,999,143 of the monthly handle. This is 99.11% of the total market in July

Despite the decline in the betting handle, Virginia saw a stronghold rate of 11.06% for the month. This is up compared to the 10.04% reported in June. This led to $28,210,927 in adjusted gross revenue for July and $4,115,217.97 in total taxes to the state.

Like the rest of the industry, Virginia operations are expected to pick up as the NFL season looms. This could be the lowest betting month for the rest of the year.