West Virginia sportsbooks have hit a tough stretch of late. But despite not having the best month, they saw a minor increase in bets in March totaling about $43 million.
This is around a $5 million jump from the $38 million in handle WV sportsbooks generated in February.
While any improvement to the amount of monthly wagers is a good sign, betting is still down overall from a few months ago. The Mountain State’s handle exceeded $50 million in January and was over $53 million in December.
WV sportsbooks accepted more than $10 million in weekly bets twice last month. Their best showing came in the week of March 13, when they took in almost $14 million in handle.
This was their best performance in eight weeks.
Online sportsbooks in WV accounted for over $32 million of the total handle, or 76%. They reached at least $6 million in bets each week, including $11.6 million during the month’s second week.
This is the best week for online sports betting apps since September 2020. That’s the last time they saw over $10 million in handle for a single week.
Although betting figures were mostly mediocre, sportsbooks had a great month in terms of revenue. They earned around $3.9 million in March, up about $2.5 million from the month prior.
Online sportsbooks were responsible for about $2.6 million, whereas retail books were closer to $1.3 million in revenue.
Let’s break down all of March’s sports betting figures in more detail.
WV sports betting March 2021 handle
The state’s sports betting handle in March was up 12% compared to February. It’s quite possible that March Madness wagers were a large part of this difference.
Hollywood Casino and its DraftKings Sportsbook WV led the way with over $17 million in wagers. They had a very consistent month, taking in at least $3.9 million each week.
DraftKings saw similar results, with its handle hitting a minimum of $2.5 million every week.
The Greenbrier and its combination of FanDuel WV and BetMGM WV Sportsbook took second for the month. Altogether, they totaled almost $14 million in bets.
As always, the private resort’s online platforms bring in the majority of the wagers. The mobile apps accepted more than $13 million, about 98% of the overall figure.
Mountaineer Casino finished surprisingly close at third with more than $9 million in March handle. This was one of the best months ever for Mountaineer and specifically for William Hill WV.
In January and February, Mountaineer’s handle was about $8.2 million combined. Its March figures were over $1.1 million more than that.
This explosion stems from William Hill’s stunning week of March 13. The online sportsbook grabbed nearly $6 million in handle that week; its previous weekly best was just $540,000.
In fact, William Hill has only taken over $400,000 in bets during a week four times before this crazy occurrence.
With a jump that big, it’s likely the sportsbook accepted a few sizable wagers on NCAA Tournament games.
Mardi Gras Casino was fourth last month with $1.6 million. Its sister property, Wheeling Island, placed last among active sportsbooks at around $860,000 in March.
Their online option, Betly Sportsbook, netted Mardi Gras about $465,000 in handle, while Wheeling Island’s app was just shy of $100,000.
WV sports betting March 2021 revenue
The state’s revenue figures skyrocketed in March. The $3.9 million sportsbooks made is 185% more than they did in the previous month.
WV sportsbooks reached the $1 million mark for revenue twice during the four-week span. Their best performance came in the week of March 20, when they earned almost $1.4 million.
This was their most profitable showing in six weeks, when books got lots of bets for the Super Bowl.
Online sportsbooks had their best week to close out March. They made about $950,000 for the week of March 27.
Hollywood Casino and DraftKings also led all others in profits for the month. Combined, they made very close to $2 million.
This revenue was evenly spread out between the retail establishment and DraftKings. Hollywood’s retail book made just over $900,000, whereas DraftKings’ was slightly over $1 million.
The Greenbrier placed second again, with almost $1.4 million in revenue. Of course, its online apps brought in most of this total. Its retail sportsbook only earned about $8,000 in March.
Mountaineer finished third in the state with around $430,000. Even though its online sportsbook’s handle reached new levels during the month, that didn’t translate to added revenue.
While it’s a vast improvement from being in the red a month ago, it’s still well short of the earnings of over $560,000 from November and December.
William Hill made right around $125,000, and Mountaineer’s retail sportsbook took in over $300,000.
In spite of having a significantly smaller handle last month, Wheeling Island beat out Mardi Gras’ revenue.
Wheeling almost reached $90,000, in comparison to Mardi Gras at just $13,000. The massive differential clearly came from the two retail locations, as Mardi Gras’ Betly app actually outproduced Wheeling’s by about $48,000.
