West Virginia saw March's legal sports betting handle drop 30% from the previous year, but the lower wager amount still produced a solid revenue.
The Mountain State’s lottery commission reported that retail and online sports betting sites saw $43.1 million in wagers made during March — which was up 8.3% from February — but pales in comparison to March 2022’s $61.4 million handle.
To be fair, that number represents the state’s highest month in the first quarter of any year since sports betting became legal in late 2018.
The good news for West Virginia sports betting operators is they made out with a healthy 9.8% hold in March 2023. The Mountain State’s sportsbooks hauled in $4.2 million in revenue, which was way up from February’s $2.8 million on a $39.7 million handle.
Despite no football, March came close to January’s handle of $44.7 million, thanks to both conference tournaments and March Madness.
The state made out with over $357,000 on the 10% tax rate, minus the administration’s share.
Retail bounces back
Mobile betting once again dominated the landscape in West Virginia, but retail sportsbooks ended a two-month losing skid with modest March returns. Brick-and-mortar operators produced $4.8 million in handle, with Charles Town raking over half of that with $2.8 million in wagers.
In total, the five casinos made over $415,000 in revenue, and all of them finished in the black. Last month, they combined to lose over half a million dollars.
Charles Town only claimed a profit of $115,000, while Mountaineer recorded the highest hold with a revenue of $114,000 on wagers, topping $585,000.
Greenbrier on top
The Greenbrier, which uses FanDuel, BetMGM, and Golden Nugget for online operations, was the big winner in a state that produced a handle of $38.3 million in mobile wagers. The trio of operators combined for a March-best $19.5 million, with a win rate of 10.7% to produce a revenue of $2.1 million.
Charles Town, which has partnerships with DraftKings, Barstool Sportsbook, and PointsBet, finished second in handle ($16.2 million) and revenue ($1.6 million).
Mountaineer, which is backed by BetRivers and Caesars, brought in $1.9 million in mobile wagers but claimed just $82,000 in revenue.
