The overall betting handle continues to drop every week in the Mountain State. Since the WVU Mountaineers and college football regular season ended, WV sportsbooks have continued to see a decline in wagers.
Both retail sportsbooks, as well as online sports betting apps, had a rough week. Land-based books failed to reach $4 million in handle for the first time in five weeks. They brought in around $3.9 million.
Online sportsbooks disappointed, too. DraftKings and FanDuel managed just $3.2 million in bets, their worst showing in nine weeks.
While the weekly fall in handle is concerning, sportsbooks had a good week in terms of generating revenue. Altogether, they made over $700,000, the most in more than a month.
Surprisingly, it was the retail sportsbooks that earned the most money. They pulled in over $550,000, their highest in eight weeks.
On the other hand, WV online gambling platforms didn’t have nearly the same success. They earned just under $150,000, which is their worst performance in regards to revenue in seven weeks when they lost money.
This week’s report includes activity from Dec. 15-21 from these WV sportsbooks:
- Hollywood Casino Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook WV
- 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. 21 figures:
- Hollywood Casino continues to dominate
- Retail earns more than online sportsbooks
- Football affecting handle
The biggest takeaway from this week’s report is the dominance that the Hollywood Casino has shown. Even though its sportsbook typically leads the way in both handle and revenue, it was significantly ahead of all others this week for earning money.
In total, its two sportsbooks made around $535,000 for the week. This is over 76% of the total revenue generated in WV.
Hollywood’s retail book made over $410,000 and its online app earned over $120,000. DraftKings surpassed FanDuel by nearly $100,000 this week.
While Hollywood’s mobile app made six figures, it wasn’t a good week for online sportsbooks in WV. It was DraftKings’ worst showing in a month and FanDuel’s lowest revenue in seven weeks.
As they struggled to turn a big profit, retail sportsbooks saw a resurgence. It was the first time in eight weeks that they made over $500,000.
This ends a two-week streak where the online platforms generated more revenue.
The WV market continues to fluctuate between retail and online wagering, however, they are both trending downward lately. This is the third consecutive week in which the overall handle has decreased.
There is no question that the lighter football schedule has had a negative impact on the number of wagers placed in the state. Since WVU football’s season ended early with no bowl game appearance, bettors only had the Marshall game to look forward to.
With that in the past and the NFL’s playoffs set to start, it seems likely that handle will keep dropping even with WVU basketball surging. WV sportsbooks will need a major week of betting on this year’s Super Bowl to counter some potential slow weeks moving forward.
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: $264,702,055.77
- Revenue: $24,961,891.81
- Taxes: $2,496,189.18
It was another slow week for sports betting in WV. Overall betting handle totaled $7,136,714.86, which is a 5% drop from the week prior.
Revenue figures were more encouraging, though. Sportsbooks earned $702,121.28, a 67% increase from the previous week.
WV sports betting revenue for the week ending Dec. 21, 2019
| WV Sportsbook | Online Handle | Retail Handle | Total Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Revenue | Total Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Sportsbook + DraftKings | $1,725,935.15 | $2,944,520.33 | $4,670,455.48 | $122,154.58 | $411,735.59 | $533,890.17 | |
| The Greenbrier + FanDuel Sportsbook | $1,519,818.78 | $113,513.00 | $1,633,331.78 | $27,452.81 | $25,025.50 | $52,478.31 | |
| Mountaineer Sportsbook | N/A | $832,927.60 | $832,927.60 | N/A | $115,881.10 | $115,881.10 | |
| Wheeling Island Sportsbook | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | -$55.40 | -$55.40 | |
| Mardi Gras Sportsbook | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | -$72.90 | -$72.90 | |
| Total | $3,245,753.93 | $3,890,960.93 | $7,136,714.86 | $149,607.39 | $552,513.89 | $702,121.28 |
A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Handle
The rankings for weekly handle look very similar to week’s past. Hollywood Casino leads all sportsbooks with almost $4.7 million in betting handle.
While this figure is impressive in general and compared to its competitors, it was Hollywood’s lowest in nine weeks.
Its retail sportsbook accepted over $2.9 million in bets, while its DraftKings app was around $1.7 million.
The Greenbrier finished in second with more than $1.6 million in total.
Although its FanDuel platform accounted for more than 93% of wagers, it didn’t have a great week. The online sportsbook has failed to reach $1.7 million in handle in three weeks since hitting the $2 million mark.
Mountaineer Casino placed third after dropping back below $1 million this week.
Despite not having overwhelmingly impressive betting figures, Mountaineer’s sportsbook is consistent. This is the 15th straight week it’s taken at least $800,000 in bets.
Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly handle:
- Hollywood Casino ($4,670,455.48)
- The Greenbrier ($1,633,331.78)
- Mountaineer Casino ($832,927.60)
- Mardi Gras Casino ($0)
- Wheeling Island ($0)
A Closer Look At WV Sports Betting Revenue
Even though sportsbooks accepted fewer wagers this week, they made a lot more money. Hollywood Casino led for revenue as well by earning over $530,000 for the week of Dec. 21.
As mentioned, its two sportsbooks dominated the retail and online competition for revenue. Retail earned over $400,000 and its DraftKings app pulled in more than $120,000 of its own.
The most notable week goes to the Mountaineer Casino, which finished in second with around $115,000. This was a great recovery after losing over $20,000 a week ago.
This week marked the first time Mountaineer has hit six figures of revenue in two months.
On the other hand, The Greenbrier had a week to forget. Its sportsbook only totaled around $52,000 in earnings, with basically an even split between online and retail.
The over $25,000 from retail is its highest revenue in four weeks. However, the $27,000 from its FanDuel app is its lowest in seven weeks when it was in the red.
Although both are still closed for business, Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras Casino combined to pay out around $125 in settled bets.
Here’s how the WV sportsbooks rank for weekly revenue:
- Hollywood Casino ($533,890.17)
- Mountaineer Casino ($115,881.10)
- The Greenbrier ($52,478.31)
- Wheeling Island (-$55.40)
- Mardi Gras Casino (-$72.90)
On the board for WV Sportsbooks
Although the college football bowl season is coming to a close, there are still plenty of great games to wager on. The National Championship is now set as the LSU Tigers will take on the Clemson Tigers for all the marbles.
The game is set for Monday, Jan. 13 from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Locally, WVU hoops team continued its amazing start to the season with another big win. Betting on WVU college basketball has been quite profitable this year and they proved it again with an upset over Ohio State.
The sports betting apps in WV should be flush with action on their next game against Kansas. WVU will be receiving points again as it looks to grab another road win facing a top-five team.
WV Basketball
The Mountaineers are riding high after one of their biggest wins in recent history. By knocking off the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, WVU moved up to No. 16 overall in the latest AP Top 25.
The team sits alone atop the Big 12 Conference standings as the only team with a record of 11-1 currently. That position will be tested this weekend as the Mountaineers travel to Kansas to battle the third-ranked Jayhawks.
There are still no odds out regarding this game, but WVU is likely to be another road underdog. Bettors in the state can probably receive good value taking coach Huggins’ squad again this week.
Following a tough start, Marshall basketball is playing well too of late. The Herd have won four of their last five to get back to within a game of being .500.
Marshall has two games this week, both at home in Huntington. It will take on Rice on Jan. 2 and then finish the week with a matchup against North Texas on Saturday.
The Herd are expected to be favorites in both games.
NFL Wild Card Weekend
Now that the 2019 NFL regular season has concluded, the playoffs are here. Even though there are fewer games, bettors can enjoy some really quality playoff football going forward.
TheLines.com has the current odds for the Wildcard Weekend games.
