The sports betting handle has fallen two weeks in a row now at West Virginia sportsbooks. After posting their best week ever for Nov. 30, the overall betting handle has fallen two straight weeks.
Since the WVU football season is over, it will be tough for sportsbooks to maintain a high handle. After the college football bowl season is complete, hardcore WV sports betting fans will likely turn to betting on the NFL playoffs and college basketball, but will the casual bettors? It will interesting to see if the WVU men’s basketball team can attract the kind of betting WVU football has.
Although it might not get the attention the football team does, the WVU men’s hoops team is doing great. The Mountaineers are off to a 10-1 start and are currently at the top of the Big 12 Conference standings.
This week’s sports betting revenue report includes activity from Dec. 8-14 from these WV sportsbooks:
- Hollywood Casino Sportsbook and DraftKings WV Sportsbook
- The Greenbrier and FanDuel Sportsbook
- Mountaineer Sportsbook
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WV sports betting revenue highlights
The following are the key takeaways from the Dec. 14 figures:
- Overall betting handle down again
- Online sportsbooks dominate revenue
- Retail’s handle still on top
The biggest takeaway from this week’s report is that the overall handle is starting to reduce. It hit its peak a few weeks ago as the college football season and the month of November concluded.
However, after two weeks without a full college football slate, the Mountain State’s handle has dropped consecutively. The handle for West Virginia sportsbooks this week is almost a full $2 million shy of their mark from Nov. 30.
Despite online’s handle falling the last few weeks, DraftKings and FanDuel had an incredible performance in regards to revenue. The $430,000 is almost $200,000 more than they’ve earned in each of the past four weeks.
Besides doing well in general, the online sportsbooks put the three active retail books to shame in terms of revenue for the week. Retail actually fell into the red and lost more than $11,000.
This is now two straight weeks and three of the last four in which online has made more money than retail.
Even though retail has been slow with the revenue of late, their sportsbooks continue to hold the lead in handle over online.
Since accepting more bets for the week of Nov. 16, online sportsbooks have fallen short of retail for the last four weeks. This is another concerning sign as online wagering has taken command in just about every other state with legal markets.
In order for the WV market to have long-term success, it will need more consistency from its online sportsbooks. The launching of additional online options including William Hill Sportsbook will definitely help, too.
WV Sports Betting Summary
Here are the latest figures released by the WV Lottery Commission since WV sports betting revenue tracking began in August 2018:
- Handle: $257,565,340.91
- Revenue: $24,259,770.53
- Taxes: $2,425,977.05
It was a slower week of sports betting in WV. Handle for the week totaled $7,540,382.28, which is a 5% decrease from a week ago.
Revenue figures also slipped a bit. Sportsbooks generated $419,988.25 in revenue, an 11% drop from the previous week.
WV sports betting revenue for the week ending Dec. 14, 2019
| WV Sportsbook | Online Handle | Retail Handle | Total Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Revenue | Total Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Sportsbook + DraftKings | $2,012,023.09 | $2,962,880.70 | $4,974,903.79 | $210,856.86 | $1,379.65 | $212,236.51 | |
| The Greenbrier + FanDuel Sportsbook | $1,449,132.48 | $108,116.25 | $1,557,248.73 | $220,472.48 | $9,374.50 | $229,846.98 | |
| Mountaineer Sportsbook | N/A | $1,008,229.76 | $1,008,229.76 | N/A | -$20,961.09 | -$20,961.09 | |
| Wheeling Island Sportsbook | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Mardi Gras Sportsbook | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | -$1,134.15 | -$1,134.15 | |
| Total | $3,461,155.57 | $4,079,226.71 | $7,540,382.28 | $431,329.34 | -$11,341.09 | $419,988.25 |
A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Handle
Hollywood Casino led all WV sportsbooks in handle by accepting close to $5 million in bets. It continues to pace the entire market with its retail book along with its DraftKings app.
While this is a quality week in general, it was slower than in week’s past. This is Hollywood’s worst showing in three weeks and just the second time it’s failed to reach $5 million in handle in the last six weeks.
Both of Hollywood’s sportsbooks saw a reduction in action. Its retail book accepted around $3 million, while DraftKings took in just over $2 million.
The Greenbrier finished in second with one of its worst weeks in a long time. The slightly greater than $1.5 million was its lowest handle in two months.
Even though its FanDuel online app accounted for the majority of bets, its handle was under $1.5 million for only the second time in eight weeks.
The Greenbrier’s private retail book accepted around $110,000 in wagers. This was its slowest week for handle in a month.
In spite of coming in last among the active sportsbooks, Mountaineer Casino had a great week. Its sportsbook topped $1 million in handle for just the third time ever.
Although Mountaineer still doesn’t feature a mobile app, its handle has exceeded seven figures in two of the last three weeks.
Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly handle:
- Hollywood Casino ($4,974,903.79)
- The Greenbrier ($1,557,248.73)
- Mountaineer Casino ($1,008,229.76)
- Mardi Gras Casino ($0)
- Wheeling Island ($0)
A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Revenue
WV sports betting apps are the big earners this week, handily earning more than retail. The Greenbrier won the week for revenue thanks to a big showing from its FanDuel Sportsbook. Its online book accounted for around 96% of total revenue for the week.
This was The Greenbrier’s best week for earning revenue in five weeks, even with its retail struggling. The retail book totaled just over $9,000.
Hollywood Casino finished in second with very similar results. Its online platform with DraftKings made more than $210,000, while its retail pulled in under $1,400.
This was DraftKings’ best week for revenue in five weeks and Hollywood’s worst performance for retail in three weeks.
Mountaineer Casino finished in last among all sportsbooks with a big loss for the week. Its book paid out nearly $21,000. This is now the second time in a month that Mountaineer has lost at least $15,000.
Both Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras Casino are still not accepting wagers, but they lost over $1,100 in settled bets this week.
Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly revenue:
- The Greenbrier ($229,846.98)
- Hollywood Casino ($212,236.51)
- Wheeling Island ($0)
- Mardi Gras Casino (-$1,134.15)
- Mountaineer Casino (-$20,961.09)
On the board for WV Sportsbooks
WV Basketball
With Marshall’s bowl loss in the rearview mirror, bettors in the state can strictly focus on the hardwood going forward. Even though the Thundering Herd got off to a sluggish start, they’ve won three of their last four.
Marshall plays a 10-1 Duquesne team next on Sunday, Dec. 29. It then opens up conference play on Jan. 2 when it hosts Rice in Huntington.
Betting on WVU basketball this season has paid off, the team has had stellar to start the season. Coach Huggins has his squad with a 10-1 record and the No. 22 ranking in the country.
While the team is playing quite well, the schedule gets much more difficult going forward. The Mountaineers play second-ranked Ohio State at home on the 29th before traveling to fifth-ranked Kansas on Jan. 4.
WVU is expected to be decent-sized underdogs in both matchups.
NFL Week 17
The NFL’s final week of the regular season is here, as the majority of playoff positions have been decided. Although it was a rough year for most of the local teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers can still sneak in to the final spot in the AFC.
They will need a win and a little help to make a surprising postseason appearance this year.
Here are all of the local odds for Week 17 according to both online betting apps available in WV, DraftKings and FanDuel:
| Spread | Total | Moneyline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLE vs CIN | |||
| DraftKings Sportsbook | CLE -3 | 45 | CLE -165 CIN +135 |
| FanDuel Sportsbook | CLE -2.5 | 45 | CLE -152 Cin +132 |
| PIT vs BAL | |||
| DraftKings | PIT -2 | 38 | PIT -141 BAL +117 |
| FanDuel | PIT -2.5 | 38.5 | PIT -138 BAL +120 |
| WAS vs DAL | |||
| DraftKings | WAS +10.5 | 44.5 | WAS +420 DAL -560 |
| FanDuel | WAS -10.5 | 44.5 | WAS +400 DAL -500 |
| Odds updated on Dec. 24. |
