Oregon Sports Betting Revenue Declines in December

Oregon residents have access to just one of our best sports betting sites, but the latest month of sports betting financials were not altogether promising.

The Oregon Lottery reported $5.7 million in Oregon sports betting revenue for December 2024, a year-on-year drop of 45% compared to revenues of $9.7 million recorded last year. Month-on-month revenues saw an even sharper decline of 55% compared to the $11.8 million generated in November, which was the highest-grossing month of the year. The state collected $2.9 million in tax revenue from sports betting activities incurred during December.

One contributing factor to the sharp decline in sports betting revenue in December was the bettor's favorable outcomes of NFL games this season. Favorite teams prevailed more frequently than anticipated during the season, which impacted the bottom line of most sports betting operators across US states.

Even though revenues declined sharply, the state saw a record handle of $90.1 million this December compared to the $74.1 million handle recorded last December.

Oregon bettors wagered a total of $863.1 million in 2024, 21.3% more than the $675.9 million recorded last year. YTD gross revenues were $94.4 million in 2024, growing 19.8% from $75.7 million reported last year.

Growth by quarter

The first quarter of the current fiscal year, covering July, August, and September, showed significant growth in sports betting activity in Oregon. In that time frame, the amount wagered overall went up by 22% to more than $184 million, according to Oregon Lottery reports. Residents continue to take advantage of Oregon sportsbook promos.

Growth accompanied that rise with a 22% rise in participation, with approximately 71,000 people placing bets in September 2024 alone. These figures underline the increasing popularity of sports betting within the state due to increased consumer engagement and access to the market.

Confidence from the operator

Despite the drop in revenues, Kerry Hemphill, Sports Betting Product Manager in the Oregon Lottery, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the company she and the company remain optimistic. “It’s been a surprise to us. There really has not been any sign of that train slowing down yet.” 

Hemphill says that the Oregon Lottery can’t predict when the market will peak in terms of growth, but there is an expectation that the market will plateau in about five to seven years. Still, she didn’t expect this growth in a state with a population of just over 4.2 million.

“We had assumed that growth would become harder and harder to acquire after each year,” she said. “We aren’t matching population growth — we’re much larger than that and growing beyond inflation.”

DraftKings

Unlike most US states that legalized sports betting and have opened the market to a variety of licensed sportsbooks, all bets placed in Oregon are facilitated on the state’s sole platform, powered and operated by DraftKings. 

In January 2022, DraftKings replaced Oregon Lottery’s previous supplier, Scoreboard, which was owned by SBtech - a turnkey technology acquired by DraftKings in 2020. While Oregon’s tribal casinos offer in-person sports betting, commercial sports betting is only available online or via mobile devices.