The Wyoming Gaming Commission announced the sports betting numbers for June, and predictably they were far lower than the previous month but revealed a year-over-year increase from June of last year.
Sluggish Summer
The decreases in Wyoming sports betting handle and revenue in June reveal a predictable pattern all across the nation. June is when summer really begins and people turn their attention to outdoor activities and getaway vacations but even avid sports bettors don’t have many options other than Major League Baseball and a smattering of golf, tennis, and MMA events.
Therefore, the nearly 26% decrease in handle, from 12.78 million in May to $9.48 million in June was expected, as was the 40.6% decrease in revenue, which saw profits plunge from $1.31 million to $775,389 in the one-month span.
However, the silver lining was the year-over-year increase in handle and gaming revenue which saw 29.5% and 15.1% increases, respectively, from last June. And when the sportsbook operators suffer lulls so too does the taxman, as Wyoming generated just $37,704 in tax revenue from the books last month.
DraftKings Maintains Top Spot
Unlike in many states where FanDuel and DraftKings form a virtual duopoly, with the former routinely the most popular sportsbook in terms of handle and delivering the highest revenue, such is not the case in the Cowboy State.
DraftKings, normally a bridesmaid to FanDuel but rarely a bride, has an iron grip on mobile sports betting in Wyoming, more than doubling its nearest competitor in June.
Wyoming’s top four sportsbooks in terms of handle in June were as follows:
- DraftKings: 58.6%
- BetMGM: 27.6%
- FanDuel: 11.2%
- Caesars: 2.6%
All showed year-over-year increases but in an interesting twist, DraftKings and BetMGM were the first to launch in Wyoming in September 2021 while FanDuel didn’t arrive at the party until March 2022 followed by Caesars in August 2022.
Understanding the Betting Landscape
And while it’s unusual to see FanDuel holding down the third spot, it illustrates why sportsbooks spend so much money on sign-up and promotional bonuses to acquire early adopters. Studies have shown the average sports bettor uses only one sportsbook and has just one account.
And while having only one set of lines to bet is far from optimum, the recreational bettor does not seem to consider that odds and lines differ from sportsbook to sportsbook. Thus, the reason why professional bettors, also known as sharps, have several books at their disposal to get the sharpest number or the best price.
You will find no commercial casinos in Wyoming, only four tribal casinos operated by two tribes, and there are currently four online sportsbooks operating in the nation’s least populated state (approx. 578,000) with Barstool and PointsBet (soon to be Fanatics) already having permits but have yet to launch.
According to state law, operators pay $100,000 for an initial five-year license and a $50,000 renewal fee thereafter. Sports betting revenue in Wyoming is taxed at 10% on gross proceeds. A yearly allocation of $300,000 is reserved for gambling addiction programs and treatment.
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