The summer is fast-approaching, and as the weather warms up, the sports betting calendar winds down, and people start to spend more time outside, sports betting companies are anticipating a downturn in activity across the country. States have already begun to see those effects taking place in April, and as more numbers start to roll in, I thought it was a good time to take a look at some of the declines in sports betting handles across the country.

Michigan Down 17.2% from March to April

Michigan sports bettors wagered a total of $396 million in April, per the Michigan Gaming Control Board. That’s the first time the state has been below $400 million in a month since September 2021 and it was a 17.2% decline from almost $478 million in total wagers in March. Still, April 2021 represented a 44.4% increase year-over-year in total handle from April 2020.

Operators generated more revenue despite the decreased volume of wagers as their hold rate increased from 6.8% to 8.2% in April, bringing the revenue from $32.4 million to $32.6 million last month. Online wagers represented $371.2 million in total bets, 93.7% of the total. The three Detroit retail sportsbooks took $24.8 million in wagers in April.

FanDuel led the market with $118.4 million in online wagers, down 15.5% from $140.1 million in April. Still, FanDuel collected $15.6 million in revenue on a 13.2% hold rate. Meanwhile, BetMGM came in second with $89.7 million in online bets and DraftKings came in third at $78.1 million.

Tennessee Drops 20.9% in April

In April, Tennessee’s nine digital sportsbooks brought in $292.8 million in total wagers, representing a 20.9% decline from March. April snapped a six-month streak of $300+ million in handle per month and was the state’s lowest total since September 2021. Tennessee came in sixth in the country with that handle.

Like Michigan, Tennessee’s operators posted an increased win rate at 9.3% compared to 7.2% in March. Therefore, revenue increased by 2.3% from $26.5 million in March to $27.1 million. April was the eighth consecutive month in Tennessee with $20+ million in gross revenue from sports betting.

Tennessee’s handle of $1.4 billion through the first four months of 2022 was 77.9% higher than the $766 million in the first four months of 2021. Gross revenue increased 64.7% to $110.9 million through the first four months, and adjusted revenue has increased 40.2% to $90.2 million despite a drop of almost 2% to a 6.6% hold rate.

Indiana Falls 24.4% Month-Over-Month

Indiana sportsbooks also had a down month in April with just $360 million in total wagers, down 24.4% from $476.8 million in March. However, it was still a 52% jump from the $236.4 million wagered in April 2021. That significant year-over-year growth is directly related to Indiana ending its in-person registration requirement for mobile sports betting in March.

Unlike Michigan and Tennessee, however, Indiana’s revenue decreased as well – in April, sportsbooks brought in $28.6 million in gross revenue on an 8% hold compared to $32.3 million in March on a 6.8% hold. Revenue was still up 42.8% year-over-year from $20.1 million in April 2021. Online betting accounted for 92.7% of the total handle with $333.9 million in wagers.

FanDuel led the Indiana market with $112 million in total online bets, 34% of the online market. FanDuel also generated a market-leading $12.6 million in revenue in Indiana on an 11.3% hold rate. DraftKings came in second with $97.5 million in bets while no other operator had more than $50 million in total online wagers.

https://www.lineups.com/betting/sports-betting-handle-slows-down-across-the-country-in-april/