West Virginia sportsbooks suffered a 15% month-on-month handle decline in January, according to new figures from the state lottery.
Retail sportsbooks in the Mountaineer State endured their worst month on record, losing $153,000 on a handle of $6.3 million.
However, online sportsbooks held onto revenue of $3.8 million from a handle of $38.5 million, giving the industry an overall hold rate of 8.1%.
Yet that still represented a significant downturn compared to December 2022, and it was also down by more than $14 million year-on-year when compared to January 2022.
Revenue also fell by more than 50%, from $7.5 million in December 2022 to $3.6 million in January 2023.
The decline could be attributed to a drop off in college football. The NCAAF season was still raging on throughout December, but there were just a smattering of bowl games in January.
The NFL playoffs were in full swing, but many West Virginia bettors prefer college football.
The Greenbrier, which hosts FanDuel, BetMGM and Golden Nugget Sportsbook, accounted for a handle of $17.5 million and revenue of $2.4 million, amounting to a hold of around 13%.
Charles Town, which hosts DraftKings, PointsBet and Barstool Sportsbook, brought in $1.3 million in revenue on a handle of $18.2 million.
Mountaineer Casino, the host of Caesars Sportsbook and BetRivers, earned online sports betting revenue of $113,573.
