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DC Lottery betting handle growth fails to halt revenue decline in December

News

The DC Lottery reported a drop in sports betting revenue in December, despite an increase in its handle, while William Hill’s sportsbook at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena also experienced a month-on-month decline.

Players bet a total of $4.3m via the Gambet app last month, an increase of 10.3% on the $3.9m that was wagered during November 2020.

However, after players won $3.5m from sports betting, this suggested that the app generated $807,217 in revenue, down 8.6% from the previous month.

Gambet, which went live in May 2020, took $18.7m in bets during its first eight months of operation and paid out $15.2m in winnings, leaving $3.5m in gross revenue for the DC Lottery.

Meanwhile, handle at the temporary William Hill sportsbook facility was down 9.5% month-on-month from $13.7m in November, despite over 15,000 more bets placed during December.

Gross gaming revenue from sports betting at the site slipped 29.6% from $2.7m in November to $1.9m in December.

Since opening in July last year, the land-based sportsbook property has taken a total of $61.8 in sports bets, generating $10.1m in revenue in the process.

William Hill expanded its presence in the DC market earlier this month with the rollout of its mobile sportsbook in the US capital.

The sportsbook complements its retail presence at the Capital One Arena, though will only be available within a two-block radius of that property, due to the Gambet app having exclusive rights to offer mobile wagering across the city.