DC Lottery betting handle growth fails to halt revenue decline in December
| By Robert Fletcher
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.