The West Virginia sports betting market endured another slow month in July. It was actually the worst showing from WV sportsbooks in exactly one year.
The last time they failed to reach $20 million in overall handle was in July 2020, when the majority of sports were still sidelined due to health regulations because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the slightly over $19 million in July handle is better than 12 months ago, it was an awful performance. Betting figures dropped around $8 million from June.
After accepting at least $6 million in wagers in three of the four weeks last month, WV sportsbooks failed to reach that mark in July. Their best showing came on the week of July 10, when the handle approached $5.4 million.
That was the only week where they exceeded the $5 million mark, though.
WV online sportsbooks accounted for a large portion of the total, with more than $14 million in handle. This was down about $4 million compared to June; however, it represents 73% of the overall figure.
That’s an increase of 5% from the previous month and the most since April.
The monthly revenue wasn’t impressive either. With the lack of betting, earnings totaled only about $2.1 million.
Revenue figures were similar in April but haven’t dipped this low since last February.
Let’s examine July’s sports betting figures and take a deeper look at each individual sportsbook.
WV Sports Betting Handle, July 2021
July betting was sluggish once again, falling 29% from the month prior.
This massive decrease isn’t a promising sign in general, but there is certainly hope around the corner.
Both college football and NFL betting in WV will return in just a few weeks, likely providing a sizable boost to the market. The NFL is always one of the most popular markets everywhere around the US, and those in the Mountain State give lots of attention to WVU football.
Hollywood Casino led the way during this lackluster month of July. It once again flip-flopped with The Greenbrier for the top spot in terms of handle.
Hollywood and its DraftKings Sportsbook WV exceeded $8.1 million in bets.
The Greenbrier and its combination of FanDuel WV and BetMGM WV Sportsbook were just behind, ending the month with around $7.9 million in handle.
This is an encouraging result for Hollywood because it also has some help on the way. PointsBet Sportsbook WV launched last week and will certainly help contribute to the leader in the clubhouse.
For now, DraftKings was responsible for over $5.3 million of the production in July.
Since The Greenbrier is private, the majority of its handle is always online. Its two platforms brought in about $7.6 million of the wagers.
Mountaineer finished third as the only other active sportsbook to eclipse $1 million for the month. It almost reached $1.8 million, which was a disappointing effort after almost $3 million in June.
Following a month in which its William Hill Sportsbook (now rebranded to Caesars WV) saw over $900,000 in bets, it was close to $550,000 this July.
Mardi Gras edged out its sister property at Wheeling Island by just topping $800,000. Wheeling Island’s handle was about $465,000.
Both locations utilize the Betly app, which took in almost $300,000 for Mardi Gras and $130,000 for Wheeling.
WV Sports Betting Revenue, July 2021
The extremely slow month of betting impacted July’s revenue as well. The $2.1 million in revenue was a decrease of 27% from the previous month.
July started out well with over $800,000 in earnings for the opening week. Revenue proceeded to drop each week of the month, finishing with only $290,000 in the final week. This was the worst performance in regard to revenue in seven weeks.
Despite not accepting the most bets during the month, The Greenbrier generated the most revenue by a wide margin. The resort earned just shy of $1.2 million in July.
It had a quality month, hitting at least $280,000 in weekly revenue three times.
The two online options, BetMGM and FanDuel, combined for over $1.1 million, beating their similar seven-figure production in June.
They topped $400,000 during the opening week of the month for the first time since March.
Hollywood and DraftKings took second with just over $600,000 in revenue. This was about a $300,000 reduction from June.
Part of the issue last month was it had one week where it was actually in the negative. Hollywood lost around $30,000 in the week of July 24.
DraftKings’ monthly profits reached $415,000 — which means they dropped basically $85,000 compared to last month.
Surprisingly, Mardi Gras claimed the third spot for revenue in July. It nearly totaled $140,000 in earnings for the month, more than doubling June’s figure.
It bounced Mountaineer, at around just $100,000, to the fourth position. Mountaineer, along with its former William Hill app, surpassed $300,000 in revenue a month ago.
Mardi Gras took in about $35,000 from its Betly platform, while William Hill was only at $29,000.
Wheeling Island came in last with around $65,000 in overall revenue. Although it still has work to do, its profits more than tripled from June.
Its Betly app accounted for over $16,000.
