Following a difficult July, the West Virginia sports betting market somewhat recovered last month.
WV sportsbooks accepted a total of more than $22 million in August, which was an increase of about $3.3 million.
While this was a nice showing after a terrible one, the overall handle still has a way to go to get back to where it once was. June figures were around $27 million, whereas the handle hit about $25 million in May.
The start of both college football and the NFL season in September should help the market.
The Mountain State’s handle exceeded $5 million in weekly bets just once in the previous month but did so three times this August. It even topped $6 million for the week of Aug. 21.
This is the first time in nine weeks that the weekly handle reached that mark.
Betting at the WV online sportsbooks was up over $2.5 million compared to July. They combined for well over $16 million, which accounted for about 74% of the monthly total.
This represented a slight uptick from the last month.
Unfortunately, the boost in wagers didn’t translate to more revenue for sportsbooks. They earned just shy of $2 million in August after taking in over $2.1 million in July.
Online options were responsible for almost $1.3 million of the profits.
Let’s dive into the performance of each individual sportsbook and how the mobile apps fared as well.
WV Sports Betting Handle, August 2021
Although August wasn’t the most impressive month of sports betting in WV, figures did rise by 17%.
Online betting saw improvements from the month prior. The state’s mobile apps topped at least $4 million three times in August, while they failed to do so in July.
Their best showing eclipsed more than $4.7 million in the third week of the month.
Hollywood Casino led all others again this month with over $9.3 million in wagers. This is the second straight month it’s had the highest handle and the first with its newest online platform.
Hollywood is now partners with both DraftKings WV Sportsbook and PointsBet Sportsbook WV.
The two helped provide about $1.2 million more in handle this month.
Overall, Hollywood’s handle was over $2.4 million in three of the four weeks. Its online sportsbooks took in more than $6 million in bets.
Again, The Greenbrier wasn’t far behind, finishing with nearly $9.2 million. Since the resort is private, the majority of wagers come from its two apps, FanDuel WV and BetMGM Sportsbook WV.
They saw over $8.9 million in handle.
Mountaineer Casino was next as the only other sportsbook to accept at least seven figures in bets. Overall, its handle was around $2.5 million for the month.
This was a sizable increase from about $1.8 million in July.
Its Caesars WV online platform contributed to this production. It more than doubled its handle from the previous month, with over $1.2 million this time around.
Mardi Gras beat out Wheeling Island for fourth by seeing about $925,000 in wagers. Its sister property was closer to $330,000.
Both utilize the Betly app, which provided around $375,000 in handle for Mardi Gras, compared to $40,000 for Wheeling.
WV Sports Betting Revenue, August 2021
Revenue streams from sports betting are often volatile and aren’t always consistent. This is one of those months where betting was up from the month prior; however, earnings are actually down.
The almost $2 million in August revenue is a 5% decline from July.
The biggest difference between the two months was that WV sportsbooks didn’t have a massive week this time.
Their best weekly showing barely topped $680,000, while last month had one week that exceeded $800,000.
Even though this is a mildly disappointing result, revenue should see improvements starting next month with added football money. Lots of bettors like to place preseason futures and props, so those should create more profit too.
Hollywood also led the way in regard to monthly revenue. It was the only WV sportsbook to earn over $1 million for the month, with nearly $1.1 million.
This was a great recovery for Hollywood, DraftKings and PointsBet, as they totaled about $485,000 more in earnings this month.
The three combined to make at least $200,000 each week. DraftKings and PointsBet brought in a total of over $630,000.
The Greenbrier placed second with a disappointing August. It made around just $700,000 in revenue after approaching $1.2 million last month.
Its revenue fell short of $185,000 three separate times, including two weeks with less than $100,000.
Naturally, its two options in FanDuel and BetMGM earned the bulk of the money, with close to $690,000.
Mountaineer finished third for revenue with more than $150,000. This was about a $50,000 bump in the right direction compared to the month prior.
Despite having two weeks in the red, its Caesars app still generated more than $11,000.
Wheeling Island topped Mardi Gras in August because it managed to make money. It ended the month with about $50,000 in profits, whereas Mardi Gras finished in the negative.
It paid out over $44,000 one week and was down around $14,000 for the month.
Betly made about $5,500 for Wheeling and lost almost $60,000 for Mardi Gras.
