With only the men’s and women’s Final Four and championship games in April, a college sports-centric betting state endured a forseeable drop in handle.
The West Virginia Lottery reported that $34.3 million was wagered in April, a 34% decrease from March, in a month highlighted by the Masters, and the NBA and NHL playoffs.
The April handle in the Mountaineer State was also down 26% year-over-year.
Revenue fell from $4.7 million in March to $3.6 million in April, but several sports betting operators in West Virginia survived the drop because of a 10.3% hold, up from the 9% produced in the previous month.
The Mountaineer State hauled in a little more than $301,854 in tax revenue for April, down nearly $100K from March.
Impressive holds
West Virginia sports betting produced a double-digit hold for the seventh time in the last 12 months and the 19th time since mobile and retail wagering began combining to generate $11 million or more handles each month.
Online sports betting produced an outstanding 11.4% hold as it accounted for all of the revenue on a handle of over $31 million.
Staying alive
| Operator | March Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| The Greenbrier (FanDuel, BetMGM) | $15.3 million | $2 million |
| Charles Town (DraftKings, ESPN BET, Fanatics) | $13.4 million | $1.4 million |
| Mountaineer (Caesars, BetRivers) | $2 million | $120K |
| Mardi Gras (Betly) | $298K | $14K |
The Greenbrier, which is partnered with FanDuel and BetMGM, generated an April handle of $15.3 million, $7.1 million less than in March.
However, the month-to-month revenue difference was less than $400,000 as a 13.3% hold helped maximize profits.
DraftKings, ESPN BET, and Fanatics helped Charles Town reach $1.6 million in revenue on a handle down more than $6 million from March, thanks to a double-digit hold.
April wasn’t as good to Mountaineer Casino Resort as partners Caesars and BetRivers took combined wagers of nearly $1 million less and significantly fewer profits on a hold under 6%.
Mardi Gras’ Betly Sportsbook had the highest hold in March, but the win rate fell from 12.6% to 4.8% in April.
Retail, iGaming down
West Virginia’s retail sports betting took a harsh tumble as the five brick-and-mortar sportsbooks lost a combined $23. The Greenbrier 24% hold was overshadowed by Charles Town losing over $91K in April.
Online casinos saw a drop as well with iGaming revenue reaching $16.2 million, down from March when the first $20 million month of profits was obtained.
