The launch of mobile sports betting in New York did stop the growth of neighboring CT sports betting in January.
Bettors placed $158.1 million in bets at the three online Connecticut sportsbooks and PlaySugarHouse retail sportsbooks. That is up 5.3% from December and 20% from the market’s first full month in November.
The books reported $11.2 million in sports betting revenue for a 7.1% hold, though promos and other deductions dragged taxable revenue to $7.8 million. Operators paid $1.1 million in taxes for the month.
DraftKings pushing to lead CT sports betting?
DraftKings built up its online handle and revenue lead over both FanDuel and PlaySugarHouse in January.
The sportsbook took $73.7 million in handle, good for nearly 50% of the $149.4 million bet online in January. That was up 7% from December.
FanDuel, meanwhile, saw its handle dip to $62 million from $63.3 million the prior month. That gave it 41.5% of online handle share.
Likely correlated to those changes is DraftKings’ lead in promo spending for the month. DraftKings deducted $1.5 million in promos but gave out a total of $2.2 million. That compares to $1.8 million from FanDuel and $808,538 deducted from revenue.
Lottery brand PlaySugarHouse is still a distant third. With $13.7 million in bets, the operator had just 9.1% of online handle share.
No Super Bowl details for CT sports betting
Connecticut is one of the few states that will not provide Super Bowl-specific information, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection confirmed to LSR.
So far, eight states reported a combined $405.3 million in handle and $33.2 million in revenue from Super Bowl betting.
That number should jump significantly and easily pass last year’s reported $486.5 million in handle and $43 million in revenue.
Problem gaming helpline sees surge since launch
Both online sports betting and online casinos launched in Connecticut in October. That led to a significant uptick in residents contacting the local problem gambling organization.
Calls to the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling have quadrupled since launch, the agency told an informational legislative hearing in January.
Executive Director Diane Goode said calls should not have increased this fast.
“The speed with which people are losing all their money has been shocking as far as I’m concerned,” Goode told local newspaper The Day.