The Nutmeg State’s legal sports betting numbers felt the end of March Madness and the University of Connecticut’s NCAA men’s basketball championship run in April.
Despite the Final Four and the Huskies winning it all early in the month, Connecticut’s April handle dropped 20.8% from $160 million in March to $126.6 million the following month, according to figures from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
Numbers down, but strong overall
It was going to be difficult, with just two games of the NCAA tournament landing in April, to match March’s fifth-highest revenue in Connecticut history, but it was still a good month for mobile betting and retail sportsbooks.
While gross gaming revenue slipped 20.4% month-over-month, the $13.1 million of profits for the sportsbook operators was up a whopping 42.1% year-over-year.
The April hold of 10.4% was actually slightly higher than March, and Connecticut’s general fund received $1.45 million in taxes, which wasn’t too far off from the previous month’s haul of $1.85 million.
FanDuel regains ground on DraftKings
The Nutmeg State’s three mobile sports betting sites made up $118.3 million of the total handle and recorded a combined $12.1 million in revenue.
FanDuel, which was beaten out by DraftKings for the top handle in March, surged ahead of its rival in April with wagers topping out at $57.2 million. FanDuel’s revenue of $6.4 million and a win rate of 11.2% were also the best among Connecticut’s operator trio in April.
DraftKings saw its handle fall 27.3% month-over-month to $49.8 million in Apri,l while revenue hit $4.8 million for a 9.7% hold.
SugarHouse recorded revenue of $871,700 on an $11.4 million handle. The Rush Interactive-owned sportsbook is operating until the Connecticut Lottery Corporation can find a replacement. The deadline for other sportsbooks to apply to take over the third Connecticut sports betting license in the Nutmeg State is May 19.
The CLC, which also manages 15 retail sportsbook locations, produced an impressive win rate of 12.1% as the brick-and-mortar operation made $1.01 million on a handle of $8.3 million.
