West Virginia Online Gaming Numbers Rise, Sports Betting Mixed in July

The West Virginia online gaming numbers for July started the financial year with a bit of a bump from the previous month.

The iGaming handle in July for West Virginia was $277,285,728, up 8.4% from June ($255,820,886), according to figures from the West Virginia Lottery. The state tabulates its figures weekly instead of monthly but June and July were a bit different because those months marked the cutoff for the 2021-22 fiscal year and the start of the 2022-23 fiscal year.

July’s numbers were counted from July 1-30; June’s totals were from May 29 through June 30.

Revenue from online gaming was $8,498,299 last month, up 2.4% from the $8,295,743 reported in June.

June marked the end of a record fiscal year for West Virginia gaming. The state collected more than $86 million in revenue from nearly $2.6 billion wagered on popular options such as online slots and table games in the 2021-22 FY.

West Virginia is one of six states with online gambling sites, joining Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Those states have all legalized online poker along with Nevada.

The state share of taxes for July iGaming in West Virginia was $1,072,698.

July was the first full month for two new online gaming options in the Mountain State.

BetMGM Casino in WV launched its live tables in the state. The iGaming operator teamed with Evolution technology to offer the state’s first private blackjack table plus several roulette options (including Lightning Roulette and Auto Roulette) and card games, including the popular Texas Hold’em poker.

West Virginia became the fourth state where Evolution has a live dealer available, along with New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

One of BetMGM’s rivals in the online gaming space, DraftKings Casino, also offered new live dealer iGaming products in West Virginia beginning in late June. Baccarat, roulette and infinite blackjack are among the live dealer options available via DraftKings.

The DraftKings online casino in WV has a deal in The Mountain State with Penn National Gaming's Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.

Summer is a slow time around the nation for sports betting, so it is no surprise that West Virginia recorded its lowest handle since August 2021.

The total sports betting handle for July was $25,017,812, a 24.9% decrease from June ($33.3 million). The story was much the same for mobile wagering on sports, as the amount bet fell 22.9%, from $27.26 million in June to just over $21 million last month.

The year-over-year comparison showed some growth, however. The July figures were up 17.5% in total handle compared to July 2021 ($21.29 million) and up 35% in mobile handle (from $15.58 million).

The sports betting revenue rose both in a month-over-month comparison and from the July 2021 figures. Last month’s revenue was $2,616,578, up 9.0% from June ($2,399,574) and up 14.0% from July 2021 ($2,295,743). The state share of taxes rose by the same percentages, with $222,409 collected in July.