- FanDuel won $3.1 million of the $6.1 million district sportsbooks kept in July, a 50.9 percent revenue share.
- District handle fell 7.8 percent to $64.2 million in July from $69.6 million in June.
- DraftKings cut FanDuel's handle lead to $4.7 million after trailing by $7.2 million a month earlier.
- FanDuel pays a 20 percent tax as a venue-anchored licensee while DraftKings pays 30 percent on mobile-only revenue.
WASHINGTON - FanDuel won $3.1 million of the $6.1 million that Washington's sportsbooks kept from bettors in July, a 50.9 percent share of DC sports betting revenue earned on 38.2 percent of the money wagered, according to the July operator report from the Office of Lottery and Gaming.
FanDuel's Lead Is A Hold Lead
FanDuel took $24,530,986 in wagers in July and kept $3,123,709 of it, a 12.73 percent hold against a market-wide 9.56 percent. DraftKings, the district's second book by every measure, wrote $19,823,762 in bets but held 8.88 percent, leaving it $1,761,140 in revenue and a 28.7 percent share.
The gap between the two is a margin story more than a volume story. At its July hold, DraftKings needed roughly $35 million in handle to match FanDuel's revenue, more than any district book has taken in either of the past two months. As long as FanDuel keeps nearly 13 cents of every dollar wagered while its closest rival keeps under nine, the revenue title is not in reach on volume alone.
DraftKings Narrows The Handle Gap
Total district handle slipped to $64,169,129 in July from $69,614,581 in June, and revenue fell harder, down 17.4 percent from $7,427,267, according to the office's June operator report. The midsummer trough is the shallow end of the annual cycle in online sports betting revenue across regulated markets.
The pullback did not land evenly. FanDuel's handle dropped 14.1 percent from $28,554,093, while DraftKings gave back 7.1 percent from $21,329,829, shrinking FanDuel's monthly handle edge from $7.2 million to $4.7 million. Fanatics saw the steepest decline, with handle down 42 percent to $4,296,342. Its 12.88 percent hold, the highest of any district book in July, limited the revenue slide to 8.5 percent, at $553,440.
Three Tax Rates, One Book Funding The District
The district taxes its books at three rates: 20 percent for Class A operators anchored to venues, with FanDuel at Audi Field, BetMGM at Nationals Park and Caesars at Capital One Arena; 30 percent for Class C standalone mobile licensees DraftKings, Fanatics and PENN Sports Interactive; and 10 percent for Class B retail bars. The class structure dates to mid-2024, when the district retired its lottery-run Gambet platform and opened Washington DC sports betting to commercial operators district-wide.
The tiers reshape the race underneath the revenue table. FanDuel paid $624,742 in July tax, 42.9 percent of the district's $1,457,718 collection, yet its 20 percent rate means it earned 77 percent more revenue than DraftKings while paying only 18 percent more tax.
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DraftKings surrenders an extra 10 points of every revenue dollar as the structural cost of operating without a venue partner. Blended across all six active books, the district's take equaled 23.8 percent of July revenue. Total collections fell from $1,731,760 a month earlier.
Low Holds Halve Caesars And BetMGM
The two other arena books grew volume in July and still lost ground. Caesars' handle rose 30.3 percent to $6,164,437, but its hold collapsed to 4.26 percent from 11.07 percent in June, cutting revenue in half to $262,910. BetMGM wrote $9,312,980 in bets, up 23.7 percent, and held 4.60 percent, down from 9.96 percent, for $428,473 in revenue.
The district's 7.8 percent handle decline became a 17.4 percent revenue decline almost entirely because those two books paid bettors back at rates the market's leaders did not.
The retail tier barely registered. Sports & Social on U Street was the only Class B bar to report activity, at $40,621 in handle and $3,255 in revenue, and Class C licensee PENN Sports Interactive reported none at all. Every active book operates only inside district lines, a smaller footprint than the offshore online sportsbooks that accept USA players nationally.
The Office of Lottery and Gaming posts operator figures monthly, and its August report will cover the last full month before NFL volume returns to the district's books.
