Connecticut Sportsbooks Bag Lowest Handle of 2024 in April

April’s $156.8 million in wagers is still an over 20% year-over-year increase from the $126.6 million handle booked in April 2023.

Grant Leonard - News Editor at Covers.com
Grant Leonard • News Editor
May 22, 2024 • 09:36 ET • 4 min read
Connecticut Sun WNBA
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

Connecticut sports betting had an underwhelming month in April after March was such a victorious period for the Nutmeg State.

The UConn men’s basketball team dominated the competition en route to its second consecutive NCAA tournament title, while Geno Auriemma’s UConn women’s squad reached the Final Four. All that success by the heavy favorites probably contributed to some pain for Connecticut sportsbooks in April since the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection reported a statewide betting handle of $156.8 million, falling far shy of the $187.7 million bagged in March

April’s handle is also the lowest amount wagered in the Nutmeg State since August, and is the 14th most that’s been wagered in a single month since the launch of Connecticut sports betting in 2021. 

Online sportsbooks in Connecticut continued to dominate the market, collecting $149.4 million in wagers, which generated $17.4 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) on an 11.65% hold. 

The two retail sportsbooks in Connecticut mustered a $7.39 million handle for $783,200 in GGR on a 10.59% hold. 

These favorable hold percentages helped Connecticut sportsbooks boost their revenue month-over-month from March’s $15.9 million. GGR is up 38.3% year-over-year, too.  
January has been the best month of 2024 for Connecticut sports betting so far, logging a $202.6 million handle. 

All about online sportsbooks in Connecticut

Online operators once again dominated the market with 95% of all wagering activity running through the three online sportsbooks in Connecticut.

FanDuel ruled the roost for the 12th out of the last 13 months in the Nutmeg State. Performance declined month-over-month for the behemoth in both handle and revenue though.

March’s $89.2 million handle and $8.8 million revenue topped April’s numbers. 

The same held true for runner-up DraftKings and distant third Fanatics. 

Operator April Handle Revenue
FanDuel $71.3 million $9.2 million
DraftKings $63.8 million $6.7 million
Fanatics $14.2 million $1.3 million

Fanatics took over sports betting duties for the Connecticut Lottery in December, and it still has a long way to go to catch up to the big dogs. 

State tax

While overall performance for the operators may have been down month-over-month, state coffers enjoyed a healthier month of tax revenue than they did in March. 

April’s sports betting in Connecticut brought $2.1 million in tax revenue to the state, leapfrogging the $1.8 million in taxes March’s activity produced. All in all, Connecticut sportsbooks have driven $8.4 million in taxes to the state’s balance sheet since Jan. 1. 

This is more than $2 million in year-to-date tax revenue than the first four months of 2023 garnered, so at the macro level, the Connecticut sports betting market has made some gains since this time last year. 

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Grant Leonard - Covers
News Editor

Grant is a former junior B ice hockey player, and a current believer that the Washington Capitals’ aging core still has another Cup run left in the tank. Grant’s owned and operated his own marketing agency since shortly after graduating from Virginia Tech in 2014. He pursued the profession because he figured it’d be a great way to get paid to do something he loves to do, write. After years of hammering puck lines and leading his fantasy football league as Commissioner, Grant started writing about sports betting and the casino gaming industry in 2021 and hasn’t looked back.

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