West Virginia sportsbooks endured another sluggish month in May. In total, they combined for just over $25 million in handle.
Betting figures shaved another $3 million from the Mountain State’s production in April.
Since the NFL and football season concluded, the betting handle has continued to drop. WV sportsbooks saw more than $57 million in wagers last December and as much as almost $43 million as recently as March.
With only $28 million in April and $25 million in May, sportsbooks are going in the wrong direction.
The WV online sports betting apps accounted for more than $18 million of last month’s handle. This is around 72% of the total.
After exceeding $7 million in weekly bets twice in April, books failed to do so even once in May. They even had a week with fewer than $6 million, their lowest handle since Aug. 2020.
While sportsbooks didn’t have a particularly great showing in terms of generating revenue, it was an improvement from last month.
WV sportsbooks earned nearly $2.7 million in May, up about $500,000.
Online sportsbooks made over $1.7 million, compared to retail locations at around $930,000.
Let’s take a deeper look at May’s sports betting figures and how the individual sportsbooks performed.
WV sports betting handle, May 2021
It was another slow month for sportsbooks in WV, as overall betting reduced by 9%.
Even though the handle never eclipsed $7 million for a week, it did come quite close. If there was a silver lining for the month, it was that the last week was its most successful.
Sportsbooks took in about $6.8 million in bets for the week of May 29, which could potentially build some momentum into June.
Hollywood Casino and its DraftKings Sportsbook WV led all others with nearly $11.9 million in handle for the month. This was a nice recovery for Hollywood, which fell behind The Greenbrier in April.
It totaled at least $2.7 million in bets each week, including the final week of more than $3.1 million. This was the first time Hollywood topped $3 million in eight weeks.
DraftKings was responsible for around $7.4 million of the total.
The Greenbrier finished second with around $10.3 million in handle. Its two online platforms, FanDuel WV and BetMGM WV Sportsbook, carried the bulk of the betting, since retail wagering at the resort is private.
They accepted over $10 million for the month.
Mountaineer Casino placed third among active sportsbooks with slightly more than $2 million. It also saw a slight resurgence near the end of the month, besting $600,000 in wagers for May 29. This was Mountaineer’s most impressive week by far.
Its mobile app, William Hill Sportsbook WV, accumulated about $525,000 during the four-week period.
Mardi Gras Casino was next at $900,000, while its sister property at Wheeling Island saw around $400,000 in bets.
Their betly Sportsbook brought in about $355,000 for Mardi Gras, compared to just $53,000 for Wheeling Island.
It seems like these operators might have to wait until football resurfaces before betting figures get back to where they were.
WV sports betting revenue, May 2021
Surprisingly, revenue figures found a way to rise during another difficult month. Despite the lack of wagers, revenue jumped up 22% from April.
Sportsbooks earned at least $550,000 in each week of May, including more than $740,000 in the final two weeks. The over $800,000 in the last seven days was the first time books reached that much weekly revenue in two months.
Online sportsbooks had their best performance the week of May 15. They totaled almost $540,000 in revenue that week.
In spite of not taking the most bets, The Greenbrier took the top spot for monthly earnings. It had over $1.3 million in revenue in May, with its two online options accounting for more than $1.2 million of that.
BetMGM and FanDuel made at least $325,000 in each of the last three weeks.
Hollywood was second in earnings with around $940,000. DraftKings contributed, with over $400,000 for the month, but it fell short of six figures in three of the weeks.
Mountaineer finished with the third-most revenue in May with about $265,000. Its William Hill app was consistent and saw over $70,000 for the month.
Mardi Gras beat out Wheeling Island for fourth with around $110,000 in earnings. Wheeling had close to $30,000, in part because it lost about $15,000 during the final week.
Mardi Gras’ betly app also took the edge over Wheeling Island. It saw slightly over $22,000 in revenue, while Wheeling’s was around $7,000.
