Sports Betting
In September, Connecticut sportsbooks combined for a record $214.4 million handle
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin is a fan of the NFL and NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is sports and being able to share that through his writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became a Sports Editor, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
Get to know Zach Wolpin betterPublished5 hours ago on October 23, 2024
This week, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection reported that online and retail sportsbooks generated a record handle of $214.4 million. That beat out their previous high of $212 million in December 2023. Additionally, state sportsbooks are closing in on $1.5 million in wagers through the year’s first nine months. On top of that, their handle grew 18.4% year-over-year.
State operators also set a new record for gross revenue with $26.6 million in September. That was a 45% increase year-over-year and $1.7 million more than their previous high in January 2023. Connecticut’s adjusted revenue of $22.3 million was also a new record for the state. All sportsbook operators combined for a 12.4% hold. Sportsbooks in the state have had a double-digit hold in six of the last 10 months.
What Connecticut sportsbooks had the most success in September?
In Connecticut, two tribal casinos and the state lottery are in charge of overseeing the sports betting market. A sports wagering ban was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018 and it allowed states the chance to have legalized sports betting. It took Connecticut until 2021 to finally open sportsbooks to the public. As of September, only three online operators are open for business in the state.
That includes DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook. DraftKings and FanDuel are the obvious top two sportsbooks in the United States. Their ability to enter any market in the U.S. and have instant success is unmatched. In September, the three online operators combined for 95.5% of the total betting handle. It hit $204.9 million and helped the three operators collect $25.4 million in revenue.
FanDuel had the second-largest handle in September at $81.2 million. They set a new state record by a single operator with $11.7 million in revenue from a 14.5% hold. DraftKings’ $90.8 million handle was the largest of the three online sportsbooks in September. The operator had an 11.3% hold and $10.3 million in revenue. That was up 113% from the $4.8 million of revenue in August. Fanatics reported a $32.9 million handle and $3.3 million in revenue, their best month since launching in 2023.
Brick-and-mortar casinos saw increased success
Last month, Connecticut retail sportsbooks combined to generate $9.5 million in wagers for September. Their 13% hold led to $1.2 million in revenue. The Connecticut Lottery had $1.2 million in revenue from a $9.1 million handle. That was up 60% month-over-month.
