US May round-up: Strong month for NV; CO handle up 16.2%; Icasino shines in CT

Sports betting revenue for May in Nevada topped $36m, up 19.8% on last year. Online betting (up 23%) accounted for 63.4% of all sports wagering revenue. Overall handle dipped 2.3% on the previous year.

Of this, $17.2m in revenue came from basketball wagering with the NBA Conference semi-finals and finals playing out during the month. A further $11.2m in revenue came from baseball, as the MLB season takes place, and $3.4m from ice hockey. A further $7.8m was generated across other sports.

Nevada saw overall revenue climb 2.3% to $1.32bn (£1.04bn/€1.23bn).

Gaming revenue in Nevada edged ahead of $1.29bn last year, with May halting two consecutive months of year-on-year decline.

With regards to land-based gaming, slots drew the most revenue at $886.1m, up by 1.0% year-on-year. Multi-denomination slots accounted for $599.1m of revenue here, a rise of 19.5%, although penny slots revenue dropped 26.9% to $207.8m.

Elsewhere, revenue from table, counter and card games, including sports betting, climbed 5.6% to $434.3m. Baccarat generated the most revenue within this segment at $126.4m, although this was down 5.5% on last year.

Other key revenue sources included blackjack at $116.8m, up 11.4%, and roulette, with revenue hiking 45.9% to $44.1m. 

Colorado revenue and handle rise in May

Colorado saw sports betting revenue increase 43.3% to $45.0m on last May’s figures, which came in at $31.4m.

Almost all of Colorado’s revenue came from online, with retail betting accounting for just 0.05% of all revenues at $20,381.

As for handle, player spend in Colorado amounted to $447.6m during in May. This is 16.2% higher than last year, with $446.0m bet online and $1.6m at retail locations.

Like Nevada, basketball was most popular with Colorado players, drawing $147.5m in total bets. Baseball handle hit $92.3m, tennis $25.5m and ice hockey $24.2m.

Connecticut smashes online casino records

Next, Connecticut reported record revenue and spending within its online casino market in May. 

Revenue for the month amounted to $46.3m, beating the previous record by 4.5%. The May total was also 41.3% ahead of the same month last year. Spending on internet casino also hit a new high of $1.37bn, far outstripping sports betting’s contribution.

DraftKings and its partner, Foxwoods operator the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, led the way in terms of revenue, making up $21.6m of the total, ahead of FanDuel and Mohegan on $17.7m.

Total betting revenue was 14.8% higher year-on-year at $17.1m. The majority of this ($16.2m) came from the online market, with the remaining sum from retail.

In sports betting FanDuel and Mohegan took the lead with unadjusted revenue of $8.4m, beating DraftKings on $6.2m. Fanatics, which replaced Rush Street Interactive as the Connecticut Lottery’s sportsbook provider, added a further $1.1m to the total.

In terms of handle, total spend in the market in May was $163.6m, a 49.6% increase on last year. Of this, $155.6m was bet online.

Revenue edges up in South Dakota

In South Dakota, total gambling revenue in May edged up by 2.4% to $12.8m. Total handle for the market hit $140.6m, an increase of 1.7%.

South Dakota does not publish a breakdown of revenue by gambling or game type. It does, however, post details on how much players spend in each area.

Slot machine spend was up 1.2% to $132.1m, while table game wagering increased 10.3% to $7.8m. However, sports betting handle – limited to in-person wagering – for May slipped 6.3% to $495,490.