A double-digit rise in iGaming revenue was the lone bright spot in a tough July for West Virginia gambling establishments, which saw steep declines in every other gaming category.
Total betting handle at top West Virginia sportsbooks in July came in at $21,290,275, according to numbers reported by the West Virginia Lottery Commission. That figure was down 28.9% from the June handle of $29.923 million, which had represented an increase from the previous month.
Mobile sports betting handle dropped as well in July, falling 24.2% to a total of $15,578,482.
WV Sports Betting Handle & Revenue, July vs. June
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July | $21.290M | $15.578M | $2.296M |
| June | $29.924M | $20.562M | $3.466M |
| Change | Down 28.9% | Down 24.2% | Down 33.8% |
Note: West Virginia reports numbers weekly rather than by calendar month. July represents July 1-31; June represents May 30-June 30 (the end of the fiscal year).
And with handle down, it was only natural that sportsbook revenue fell as well. July’s sports betting revenue of $2,295,743 in The Mountaineer State represented a 33.8% drop from the $3.466 million reported in June, ending three straight months of revenue growth. The July share of taxes paid to the state, $195,138, was down 33.8% from the previous month as a result.
Handle, Revenue Figures Up From 2020
Such drops aren’t unusual in July, arguably the slowest month of the year for sportsbooks, coming at the end of the NBA season and before football has cranked up in earnest. West Virginia reports gambling numbers weekly rather than by calendar month, though the July period was represented by July 1-31, the start of a new fiscal year.
West Virginia’s July numbers still represented solid increases from the year before, when the industry was just beginning to get back on its feet after a nationwide shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The July handle was up 34.3% from the $15.853 million reported 12 months earlier, while July mobile sports betting handle was up 39.5% and revenue up 45.9% from the same month in 2020.
West Virginia casinos found some solace in July iGaming figures. While the July iGaming handle of $150,939,216 was down 13.9% from the June total of $175.217 million, revenues rose 11.7% in a month-over-month comparison – from $4.739 million in June to $5,295,441 in July.
West Virginia Market Continues To Grow
An early adopter of sports betting, West Virginia was the fifth state to legalize the practice, and accepted its first legal wagers during the 2018 football season. In July 2020, West Virginia became the fourth state to allow online casino games, launching the initiative behind a DraftKings product in conjunction with Hollywood Casino at Charles Town.
Since then, the state’s gambling industry has continued to grow. In May, FanDuel partnered with The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs to become the fourth online casino provider in the state.
And in August, PointsBet Sportsbook was approved to launch its app in West Virginia, becoming the state’s fifth mobile sports betting partner. PointsBet also expects to launch an online casino in West Virginia by the end of this year, pending state approval.
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First published on: Gambling.com
