US sports betting records continue to fall like Donald Trump’s hopes of avoiding prison come the new year.
Figures released by the Indiana Gaming Commission show the state’s licensed sportsbooks handled nearly $231m in wagers in the month of October, up from $207.5m in September and the second straight month the state has set a new handle record. October’s revenue of $21.1m was also in record territory as well as being a 50% rise from September.
Digital wagering accounted for $193m (83.6%) of October’s handle. DraftKings was once again the market leader with $90.5m, well ahead of runner-up FanDuel ($63.6m) and third-place finisher BetMGM ($20.1m).
In Iowa, the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission reported its betting licensees handling a record $81.9m in October, around $9m better than September’s total. Retail wagering was up 21.6% to $25m while digital bets more than doubled to nearly $57m.
Iowa’s October betting revenue hit $9.2m, around $4m better than September. Digital revenue shot up 140.2% to $6.4m while retail revenue dipped almost 10% to $2.7m. The William Hill sportsbook at Penn National Gaming’s Prairie Meadows racino won the month with handle of $19.8m (all but $1.4m of which was wagered online) and revenue of $2.3m.
West Virginia calculates its betting and iGaming figures on a weekly basis, making direct month-to-month comparisons somewhat awkward. The West Virginia Lottery reported betting handle of $44.6m and revenue of $3.74m in the four weeks ending October 31, compared to $59.2m and $4.6m in the five weeks spanning August 30 to October 3.
West Virginia’s two online casino licensees – DraftKings and BetMGM – reported total spending of $53.1m in October, a 29% drop from September’s five-week total, while revenue was down 17% to $1.9m.
Detroit’s three commercial casino operators generated land-based betting revenue of $7.6m in October, up from $4.4m in September. MGM Grand Detroit led the way with $3.7m, followed by MotorCity ($2.2m) and Greektown ($1.7m).
Detroit’s casinos are currently operating at only 15% capacity due to COVID-19, which theoretically limits in-person wagering, yet their slots and table revenue was down only 18.9% year-on-year to $93.8m, so the few Michigan gamblers that are allowed inside appear to be positively gagging for it.
