The West Virginia sports betting market saw figures reduce back down after calculating all of the wagers from Super Bowl LIV. WV sportsbooks totaled just over $8.8 million in betting handle for the week of Feb. 15.
While this figure is very respectable for how the market has been doing of late, it is a sizable decrease in action compared to the almost $10.3 million from the week prior. Even though college basketball betting and the WVU Mountaineers generate a lot of attention at sportsbooks, the figures from last week were significantly boosted by Super Bowl bets.
The expansion to three online sports betting apps has certainly helped things as well. Online sportsbooks beat out retail locations for the sixth consecutive week in regards to overall handle.
Even though February isn’t the busiest sports betting month, there is plenty on the docket. XFL betting is growing in popularity and March Madness is just a few weeks away.
This week’s report includes activity from Feb. 9-15 from these WV sportsbooks:
- Hollywood Casino Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook WV
- The Greenbrier with FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM WV Sportsbook
- Mountaineer Sportsbook
- Mardi Gras Sportsbook
- Wheeling Island Sportsbook
WV sports betting revenue highlights
The following are the key takeaways from the Feb. 15 figures:
- Overall handle stays consistent despite dropping
- Mobile betting percentages up
- WVU basketball helping sportsbooks’ revenue
Sports betting figures were down from a week ago, but that only makes sense considering that report included betting statistics from the Super Bowl. So while the handle dropped more than $1 million, this was actually another solid week for WV sportsbooks.
The overall handle exceeded $8.8 million for the fifth consecutive time. In fact, sportsbooks have accepted at least $8.6 million in bets for seven straight weeks.
Even without college football or a full NFL slate of games, sportsbooks have managed to consistently be close to $9 million in handle.
Part of that is due to the increasing popularity of the online sportsbooks in the Mountain State. The emergence of BetMGM to go along with DraftKings and FanDuel has helped enhance mobile betting figures.
With online options accounting for over $5.9 million in wagers, this marks two weeks in a row where mobile is responsible for at least 67% of the handle.
Even though this is still far off from the market share online books control in New Jersey, it’s a good sign that WV is on the right track.
As far as revenue is concerned, sportsbooks made around $275,000 for the week. Although bettors probably weren’t too thrilled, WVU basketball definitely contributed toward the positive revenue for books.
The Mountaineers lost both of their games during this stretch and didn’t cover the spread in either. They lost to Kansas at home by nine as slight favorites, then went on the road and went down to Baylor by 11.
Sportsbooks would love to see WVU go deep in the NCAA Tournament to increase wagers, however, they don’t hate when it doesn’t cover the point spread.
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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: $335,835,148.12
- Revenue: $27,397,415.41
- Taxes: $2,739,741.54
Although betting figures fell from last week, it was another busy week for sports betting in WV. Handle reduced 14% and totaled $8,836,711.39.
On the other hand, revenue figures did much better this week. Sportsbooks earned $277,730.53, a 113% increase from Feb. 8.
WV sports betting revenue for the week ending Feb. 15, 2020
| WV Sportsbook | Online Handle | Retail Handle | Total Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Revenue | Total Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Sportsbook + DraftKings | $2,082,694.69 | $1,927,330.22 | $4,010,024.91 | $153,167.49 | -$81,470.76 | $71,696.73 | |
| The Greenbrier + FanDuel Sportsbook | $3,906,683.23 | $45,149.00 | $3,951,832.23 | $234,665.80 | $1,408.50 | $236,074.30 | |
| Mountaineer Sportsbook | N/A | $668,047.65 | $668,047.65 | N/A | -$28,576.10 | -$28,576.10 | |
| Wheeling Island Sportsbook | N/A | $70,638.80 | $70,638.80 | N/A | $8,499.81 | $8,499.81 | |
| Mardi Gras Sportsbook | N/A | $136,167.80 | $136,167.80 | N/A | -$9,964.21 | -$9,964.21 | |
| Total | $5,989,377.92 | $2,847,333.47 | $8,836,711.39 | $387,833.29 | -$110,102.76 | $277,730.53 |
A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Handle
Hollywood Casino led the way in handle yet again, but not by the usual amount. For the first time, The Greenbrier is applying real pressure for the top producing sportsbook in the state.
Hollywood’s book accumulated over $4 million in handle this week. While this would be good for any other sportsbook, this was actually a very down week for Hollywood.
This actually was its worst showing in terms of handle in 24 weeks, when online sportsbooks had first made their return to the state.
Both Hollywood’s retail and online platform in DraftKings didn’t perform well.
The Greenbrier came in second just narrowly behind. Its sportsbook finished the week with over $3.9 million in wagers.
This is now the second consecutive week The Greenbrier has set a new record for overall handle. The addition of BetMGM and the fact that it’s the only land-based location that has two online platforms is clearly paying off.
Mountaineer placed third with around just $670,000. Like Hollywood, this was a terrible showing for the retail sportsbook. Its handle for Feb. 15 was its worst in 25 weeks.
Mardi Gras Casino finished fourth, with Wheeling Island coming in last. Both sportsbooks are just getting reacclimated to the WV market and should take some time before putting up big numbers.
Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly handle:
- Hollywood Casino ($4,010,024.91)
- The Greenbrier ($3,951,832.23)
- Mountaineer Casino ($668,047.65)
- Mardi Gras Casino ($136,167.80)
- Wheeling Island ($70,638.80)
A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Revenue
Although The Greenbrier couldn’t quite beat out Hollywood for handle, its sportsbook did for revenue. The Greenbrier made over $235,000 for the week.
Of course, since it’s a private resort, The Greenbrier’s online options generated the bulk of the earnings. BetMGM and FanDuel combined to make more than $234,000.
Hollywood finished in a distant second, earning around $70,000 this week. This is the first time its sportsbook failed to make at least six figures of profit (excluding weeks in the red) since early August.
Hollywood’s online app made over $150,000, whereas its retail book lost money for the second straight week.
Wheeling Island finished in third as the only other sportsbook in the black. It made about $8,500 in its third week back to accepting bets.
Mardi Gras Casino wasn’t as lucky, losing around $10,000.
Mountaineer also struggled, losing close to $30,000 this week. This marks two weeks in a row where Mountaineer has lost money.
Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for revenue:
- The Greenbrier ($236,074.30)
- Hollywood Casino ($71,696.73)
- Wheeling Island ($8,499.81)
- Mardi Gras Casino (-$9,964.21)
- Mountaineer Casino (-$28,576.10)
On the board for WV Sportsbooks
WVU Basketball
After such a promising start to the season, the WVU Mountaineers basketball team has hit a very tough stretch. The team has dropped five of their last six games and they aren’t looking good heading into postseason play.
Even though the Mountaineers will more than likely be part of the NCAA Tournament, their recent run has definitely impacted their seeding.
With just three games left to the regular season, WVU needs to figure out a way to right the ship. It hosts Oklahoma this Saturday before playing Iowa State and Baylor again next week.
This will be a revenge game for coach Huggins and his squad, as Oklahoma defeated them by 10 in their first meeting. While it appears to be a close matchup, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index is giving the Mountaineers an 85% chance of victory.
March Madness Odds
The college basketball regular season has about a week remaining. That means that March Madness is practically here as teams gear up for their conference and NCAA tournaments.
Although a lot could change in the next few weeks, here are the current odds of winning this year’s national title according to DraftKings:
- Kansas +700
- Baylor +900
- Gonzaga +900
- Duke +1200
- Dayton +1500
- Louisville +1600
- Maryland +1600
- Auburn +2000
- Florida State +2000
- Kentucky +2000
- WVU +3300
