One year ago, Crab Sports launched in Maryland, becoming the state’s 11th sportsbook.
Crab Sports is unique for two reasons: It is entirely based in Maryland, and 50% of it is owned by women and minorities.
It’s been a tough year for the sportsbook in the highly competitive Maryland sports betting market ruled by DraftKings and FanDuel, but it has enjoyed some successes.
Crab Sports near the back of the pack in Maryland
So far, Crab Sports hasn’t made it into the same company as larger operators.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency’s fiscal year runs from July to June, which means FY 2024 just concluded last month, the same month when Crab Sports launched in Maryland a year earlier.
During its first year, Crab Sports’ handle totaled just under $6.3 million. That ranked Crab 11th out of the state’s 12 operators. Its revenue for the fiscal year came out to around $339,000, 10th in Maryland.
The sportsbook did manage a 10.4% hold in FY 2024, which was the second highest hold in Maryland during that time. In June, Crab Sports’ hold reached 14.1%, which was the best in the state.
Still, the operator represnts a small fraction of the Maryland market.
As a whole, Maryland sportsbook operators totaled $5.2 billion in mobile sports wagering handle for FY 2024. Their revenue came out to $387 million.
That mean’s Crab Sports’ share of the state’s handle was just 0.12%. Its revenue share was just 0.08%.
How has Maryland gambling landscape changed since Crab Sports began?
Sports betting is becoming more and more popular in Maryland.
In FY 2023, $2.89 billion was bet on sports in the state, both online and retail. That number jumped up more than $2 billion in FY 2024.
Revenue for sports betting operators has more than doubled from FY 2023 to FY 2024, from $168 million to $402 million.
During the last month, one sportsbook has entered the Maryland market and another is poised to join it soon. Veterans Services Corp. just launched LetsBetMD earlier this month. In late June, Betr received a sports betting license from the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission.
Also in June, the market lost a competitor. Betfred shut down its online sports betting operation in Maryland. It’s another example of the difficulty for sportsbooks to carve out a niche in the competitive Maryland market.
What does the future hold?
There are no indications that Crab Sports will make any sort of changes. After all, it’s just a year into its tenure in the Maryland market.
However, it’s a perfect example of how hard it is to compete with the larger brands. While the operator does boast a local brand, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM all boast bigger, national brands. They’ve got the cash to advertise and get their names on the biggest stages.
For comparison, FanDuel’s revenue in Maryland in FY 2024 came out to $228.4 million. DraftKings’ was $112.3 million, BetMGM’s was $25.9 million, and Caesars was $8.9 million.
Crab Sports has a lot of ground to catch up, but it’s still a unique, local operator in the Maryland market. That’s one advantage it has over other sportsbooks in the Old Line State.