With only the men’s and women’s Final Four and championship games in April, a college sports-centric betting state endured a forseeable drop in handle.

The West Virginia Lottery reported that $34.3 million was wagered in April, a 34% decrease from March, in a month highlighted by the Masters, and the NBA and NHL playoffs.

The April handle in the Mountaineer State was also down 26% year-over-year.

Revenue fell from $4.7 million in March to $3.6 million in April, but several sports betting operators in West Virginia survived the drop because of a 10.3% hold, up from the 9% produced in the previous month.

The Mountaineer State hauled in a little more than $301,854 in tax revenue for April, down nearly $100K from March.

Impressive holds

West Virginia sports betting produced a double-digit hold for the seventh time in the last 12 months and the 19th time since mobile and retail wagering began combining to generate $11 million or more handles each month.

Online sports betting produced an outstanding 11.4% hold as it accounted for all of the revenue on a handle of over $31 million.

Staying alive

The Greenbrier, which is partnered with FanDuel and BetMGM, generated an April handle of $15.3 million, $7.1 million less than in March.

However, the month-to-month revenue difference was less than $400,000 as a 13.3% hold helped maximize profits.

DraftKings, ESPN BET, and Fanatics helped Charles Town reach $1.6 million in revenue on a handle down more than $6 million from March, thanks to a double-digit hold.

April wasn’t as good to Mountaineer Casino Resort as partners Caesars and BetRivers took combined wagers of nearly $1 million less and significantly fewer profits on a hold under 6%.

Mardi Gras’ Betly Sportsbook had the highest hold in March, but the win rate fell from 12.6% to 4.8% in April.

Retail, iGaming down

West Virginia’s retail sports betting took a harsh tumble as the five brick-and-mortar sportsbooks lost a combined $23. The Greenbrier 24% hold was overshadowed by Charles Town losing over $91K in April.

Online casinos saw a drop as well with iGaming revenue reaching $16.2 million, down from March when the first $20 million month of profits was obtained.

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