Sports Betting Revenue in West Virginia Increases in May

West Virginia’s regulator finally issued the results for the month of May, and the numbers are showing that sports betting revenue in this US state had a major boost.

The revenue from the regulated sports betting market skyrocketed by 69% in comparison to the results from April. The overall revenue was almost a million dollars and came at $937,065.

More Details on the Results

The amount consumers wagered on sports events also rose 4% compared to the amount placed in April.

Bettors in West Virginia actually placed $10.7 million in wagers during the month of May…

…while in April, they placed $10.3 million.

On the other hand, player winnings also saw an increase from $9.5 million to $9.6 million.

The best-ranked venue when it comes to the revenue accumulated last month is definitely Hollywood Casino, operated by Penn National Gaming at Charles Town Races.

It managed to generate revenues of $672,070, while the customers placed $7.64 million in wagers.

Eldorado Resorts’ Mountaineer Casino came up second because it had much smaller revenue at $222,736…

…with $2.84 million in wagers.

Greenbrier had revenue of $46,050 and a handle of $217,335, while the sportsbooks in the other two licensed venues, Delaware North’s Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack and Mardi Gras Casino, were closed.

Dispute Between Miomni and Entero

Neither Delaware North’s Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack nor Mardi Gras Casino accepted any type of wagers because of the dispute between Miomni Gaming and rival supplier, Entero Software Solutions.

Since Delaware North decided to end its sports betting contract with Miomni because of it…

…its online and land-based sportsbooks remain closed.

On the other hand, both the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack and Mardi Gras Casino paid out on a number of bets placed before the split, which left them with losses.

Launch of DraftKings App Delayed

The official launch of Hollywood Casino’s app powered by DraftKings has been delayed…

…because the West Virginia Lottery Commission claims that the location of the servers does not breach the Wire Act.

DraftKings signed an exclusive agreement with Penn National Gaming and its Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races venue to launch a mobile sports betting app in this state.

The West Virginia lottery, which is at the same time also a gambling regulator for this US state’s gambling market, tested the app at the end of May.

Even though the testing procedure went well, the Lottery had to delay the launch for the app because of the Federal Wire Act.

The problem was that the physical location of the servers is not in compliance with the Federal Act, so the regulator will have to wait for more approval.

A Word from the Lottery Director

“Everyone involved wants to make sure we proceed the right way. The construction of the network and the mobile app involves many parties and can affect the operations of other jurisdictions,” WV Lottery director, John Myers, explained.

“The Lottery wants to see a successful launch as soon as possible, but we must make sure that the citizens of West Virginia and our employees are not put at risk. We are working closely with the parties involved, however it will take time to build the system,” he added.

Source:

“West Virginia sports betting revenue rockets in May”, Robin Harrison-Millan, June 11, 2019.