Vermont is getting its first dose of the summer betting lulls. Casual bettors are not eager to bet on the huge swath of baseball games, and basketball just isn’t as popular as football. Together, that is a recipe for poor numbers from Vermont’s Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL).
The DLL announced that the Green Mountain State accepted $12.6 million in wagers last month, a 26% decline from April and 40.5% lower than February’s highs.
Revenue unsurprisingly also fell despite holding 10.4% of the bets they took in. After paying out winning tickets and taking away voids, promos, etc, the sportsbooks ended the month with an adjusted revenue of $1.2 million, down 25% from April’s $1.6 million.
The tax bill came in at $382,000.
Lower units, fewer bettors
In April, the average wager came in at $22.75, down slightly from April’s $23.15. But more importantly, the amount of bets fell off a cliff last month.
In March, Vermont sportsbooks saw roughly 992,000 in tickets. In April, that fell to 737,000. Now in May, that trend continued to 554,000.
On top of that, the number of bettors declined, as well. In April, around 40,000 bettors came to the Green Mountain State. But in May, only 27,000 placed a Vermont sports betting wager (9,000 came from out of state).
Basketball bets fall, remain top choice
When handle falls by more than 25%, not many sports come out untouched. Basketball wagers fell by $2 million compared to April, but it was still the No. 1 option for Vermonters.
Baseball only fell by $200,000, while hockey saw its handle nearly double, although it was still less than tennis.
| Sport | May Handle |
|---|---|
| Basketball | $4 million |
| Baseball | $2.7 million |
| Tennis | $1.3 million |
| Hockey | $1.2 million |
| Soccer | $38,000 |
| Other | $3.1 million |
