Oops, It Did It Again: Another Record-Setting Week For WV Sportsbooks

One week after seeing their overall betting handle drop $1 million, West Virginia sportsbooks bounced back with their best week ever. For the week of Oct. 26, sportsbooks in the Mountain State took in close to $8 million in wagers.

The total handle of over $7.8 million is about $100,000 more than their previous best.

While retail books did more than hold their own with $4.3 million, the online sportsbooks stood out this week. The two online sports betting apps available in the state, DraftKings and FanDuel, combined to accept over $3.5 million in bets.

This is the best performance by the online platforms, beating their previous best week by more than $225,000. Even though there are some exceptions, it appears that the mobile betting figures continue to grow each week in the WV sports betting market.

West Virginia sportsbooks also made plenty of revenue this week, too. Following a down week in which they made just under $600,000, revenue figures were back over $1 million.

The almost $1.4 million in revenue is the most sportsbooks have earned in seven weeks.

Sports betting in the state is finally reaching its full potential thanks to the presence of online wagering and the fact that we are in the middle of college football season.

The WVU Mountaineers and Marshall Thundering Herd remain the hottest tickets at sportsbooks, but there is plenty of action coming in elsewhere as well. The NFL has passed the midway point, while the NBA and NHL seasons are now underway.

With WVU having a home game this week in Morgantown, betting figures could jump even higher. The Mountaineers have a surprisingly very winnable Big 12 matchup this Saturday with Texas Tech.

Although it is still technically an underdog with WV sportsbooks, WVU is only receiving around two points this week. It will be interesting to see if it can carry over the momentum it built after a valiant showing against Baylor.

This week’s report includes activity from Oct. 20-26 from these WV sportsbooks:

• Hollywood Casino Sportsbook and DraftKings WV Sportsbook
• The Greenbrier and FanDuel Sportsbook
• Mountaineer Sportsbook

WV sports betting revenue highlights

The following are the key takeaways from the Oct. 26 figures:

• Online sportsbooks set new record for overall handle
• Handle peaks despite no WVU game
• Marshall football failed to cover

Every week, online sportsbooks seem to get more popular in WV. Since the launch of DraftKings and FanDuel, more residents are choosing to bet right on their mobile devices.

Online betting handle has exceeded $3 million the last three weeks in a row, with it topping $3.5 million this week.

Even though it’s tough to predict what’s to come, there’s no reason to believe that online wagering is going to slow down. Online sportsbooks set a record for handle, but retail locations still took in about $800,000 more.

Although mobile betting hasn’t surpassed retail yet, it is only a matter of time.

What’s truly impressive about this week’s report is that sportsbooks set a record for handle without betting on a WVU football game. The Mountaineers played OU on Oct. 19, but then had another bye week prior to their most recent game with Baylor.

Of course there are plenty of other football games to bet on, however, WVU is by far the most popular team in the state. If sportsbooks can almost hit $8 million in handle this week without any action on WVU, then next week’s figures could be substantially higher.

On the contrary, Marshall football did have a game and its result seemed to have an impact. The Herd won the game against Western Kentucky, but their three-point victory wasn’t enough to cover the spread.

Bettors who had Marshall on the moneyline would have won, but anyone laying the point spread lost. This defeat is a win for the sportsbooks in terms of revenue because they probably took a lot more wagers on Marshall rather than WKU.

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: $201,090,943.36
• Revenue: $22,494,823.76
• Taxes: $2,249,482.38

It was a very busy week for sports betting in WV. Total handle hit a new high of $7,849,278.27, a 16% increase from the week prior.

Revenue figures also did very well. Sportsbooks generated $1,367,607.81, a 136% jump from a week ago.

WV sports betting revenue for the week ending Oct. 26, 2019

A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Handle

Hollywood Casino continues to lead the pack in sports betting handle for the week. Its sportsbook posted an incredible overall handle, exceeding $5 million.

This is Hollywood’s second-best week ever, coming up about $225,000 shy of its handle from two weeks ago.

A good portion of Hollywood’s success came from its online sportsbook, DraftKings. Although it didn’t reach $2 million in handle, the over $1.9 million is its second-best showing in the nine weeks it’s been live.

The Greenbrier also had an amazing week. Its sportsbook had its best performance ever, accepting more than $1.7 million wagers.

Although it’s slightly different because The Greenbrier’s land-based sportsbook is part of an exclusive club, the FanDuel mobile sports betting app is responsible for the majority of the handle. The online sportsbook accounted for almost $1.6 million of the total.

This is FanDuel’s best week on the market and its fourth consecutive week above $1 million.

Mountaineer Casino brings up the rear for the active sportsbooks. While its retail location is doing great by itself, the lack of a mobile betting option is hindering Mountaineer’s growth.

Its handle totaled around $980,000 this week. After hitting $1 million two weeks ago, Mountaineer’s handle has dropped each week since.

Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly handle:

1. Hollywood Casino ($5,144,249.57)
2. The Greenbrier ($1,725,741.35)
3. Mountaineer Casino ($979,287.35)
4. Mardi Gras Casino ($0)
5. Wheeling Island ($0)

A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Revenue

Hollywood Casino led in revenue as well. Its sportsbook generated over $1.1 million in profits for the week.

This was a solid recovery for Hollywood after making under $270,000 a week ago. Its sportsbook has now earned at least $1 million in three of the last four weeks.

On another positive note, Hollywood’s DraftKings online app made close to $500,000. Its previous best was around $325,000.

Even though Mountaineer’s handle figures have been strong for a retail sportsbook, its revenue stream has just been average. It finished second this week with around $155,000.

This is now seven straight weeks that Mountaineer has failed to earn $200,000 in revenue.

The Greenbrier came in last because its retail book actually lost around $37,000. Thankfully, its FanDuel Sportsbook pulled in over $120,000 to even things out. This is the fourth time that the online book has reached the six-figure mark for revenue.

Despite not taking any new bets, Wheeling Island paid out around $55.

Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly revenue:

1. Hollywood Casino ($1,125,859.82)
2. Mountaineer Casino ($157,742.20)
3. The Greenbrier ($84,060.44)
4. Mardi Gras Casino ($0)
5. Wheeling Island (-$54.65)

On the board for WV Sportsbooks

WV football

The upcoming weekend should be another exciting one as WVU hosts a home matchup with Texas Tech. Morgantown, as well as WV sportsbooks, should be rocking as the Mountaineers have a real chance of winning another conference game.

With Marshall on a bye, all eyes will be on WVU. Here are this week’s odds according to both online options available in the state, DraftKings and FanDuel:

Last updated: Nov. 7, 2019

NFL Week 10

The NFL’s Week 10 kicks off on Thursday night as teams are looking to keep pace with the best in their conference. Although it hasn’t been the best year for the local sides, several are still in the mix for a postseason berth.

Here are this week’s odds according to DraftKings and FanDuel:

Last updated: Nov. 7, 2019