Skip to main content

What the 6 Reporting Legal Sports Betting States Tell Us About May & Summer Expectations

Dave Bonderoff

Last Updated: June 14, 2022 2:05 PM EDT • 3 min 58 sec read.

The seasonal summer sports betting slowdown is real folks. May, June, and July are traditionally a down-time for the nation's sportsbooks thanks to the lack of NFL and basketball actions and the fact that screen-time is replaced by lake-time and barbecues for the average American bettor.

We have gotten a small sample size of what to expect in the upcoming months across the broad U.S. legal sports betting scene. Six states including New York, Indiana, Iowa, West Virginia, Oregon, and Montana have already released their May sports betting figures and to nobody's surprise, month-over-month drops in handle are the overarching theme. But revenues in some cases showed slight increases, similar to what happened at this time last year.

May 2021 became a month known for its "mixed-bag" in terms of sportsbook numbers. Let's see if May 2022 and beyond is on that same path.

The Road Ahead

A look back at the top state producers in the U.S. legal sports betting industry showed that the summer sports betting slump didn't start in earnest until June, but an obvious slowdown began in May. Most states saw a month-over-month dip in sports betting activity at this time last year with most of those same jurisdictions seeing a rise in sportsbook revenues.

While it is a bit tough to say just where sportsbooks in participating states will land this year, six states have revealed their handles and revenues from May. They paint a somewhat up-and-down picture of the overall industry again. Only one of the six have reported a month-over-month sports betting increase in May while some saw a small spike in sportsbook profits, just like in May 2021.

Check out the latest comprehensive and most trusted sportsbook reviews by SBR here.

May Numbers So Far

New York

New York's status as the most successful sports betting destination in the country has only been a thing since January, meaning that there is virtually no data to compare May's month-over-month drop to.

Overall, New York saw a drop in handle from April to May, from $1.39 billion to 1.27 billion. Revenues however showed a slight increase thanks to a bump in the hold rate during the month. New York sportsbooks made $110,418,075 in May, a slight uptick from the $104,535,898 made in April.

Again, there is no real data that allows us to compare this year's April and May New York sports betting numbers to last year's. All we can report on is the drop in handle for the top state producer in the business.

Indiana

Indiana was one of the few states that reported a month-over-month sports betting increase between April and May of 2021. Unfortunately, that trend didn't continue in 2022. Just like in New York, Indiana saw its overall sports betting handle drop while its sports betting revenues rose slightly.

Indiana sportsbooks took in $308.4 million in May, which comes in about $52 million less than the $360 million the state's sportsbooks took in during April. The basketball-crazed state saw hoops betting fall by one-third, thanks to the end of the NCAA Basketball tournament and the end of the NBA Regular Season.

It isn't all bad news for Indiana sportsbooks, however. Thanks to a 9.9% hold, $30.7 million in revenues was reported, up just over $2 million from the $28.66 million in April.

In May 2021 Indiana sportsbooks took in $254.4 million, 21.1% less than May 2022. It was an actual 7.6% increase from the handle in the month before.

Iowa

Iowa is yet another state that followed the "handle-drop, Revenue-jump" model for its sports betting scene from April to May. Their overall sports betting handle dropped from $177.4 million in April to $147.9 million in May. Despite the slump, Iowa's handle is 28.7% higher than in May 2021.

Revenues, on the other hand, showed about a $250K increase from month to month. In April, the state's sportsbooks made a reported $12,398,243. In May, those same books made $12,630,387.

Oregon & Montana

Both Oregon and Montana, small sports betting states in comparison, showed, like the other states already discussed, a handle decrease and revenue increase from April to May. The handle-dips were slight, but the revenue increases were fairly substantial.

West Virginia

Somehow, the state of West Virginia bucked at least one of the trends seen in the wider U.S. legal sports betting industry. There always has to be one or two outliers!

West Virginia's legal sports betting scene actually experienced a nice uptick in sports betting activity from April to May. The total handle was up 4% month-over-month, from $35.864 million in April to $37.284 million in May.

Revenues also climbed from April to May. Sportsbook profits came in at $3.416 million, up 10.8% from the $3.081 million in April.

What It All Means

Juxtaposing this year’s spring legal sports betting numbers with those from last year has revealed a similarly mixed bag for the six states that we have touched on. Those figures lend support to the notion that it is “business as usual” in the American market and that a slump is imminent, right after May’s up-and-down figures.

New Jersey, which has become an almost automatic $1 billion/month state saw a total of $766.9 million in bets back in June 2021 and a staggeringly low $578.7 million in July. Indiana reported just $246.3 million last June and just $194.5 million in July. Pennsylvania, which has consistently generated over $750 million per month saw $420.2 million in betting activity in June 2021 and $304.4 million in July.

So, while the U.S legal sports betting industry has yet to fall off the summer cliff, just yet, the fact that states are following almost the exact pattern they followed last year proves that a wagering slumber is on the horizon.

The good news is that summer will end and September will bring us the start of the NFL season. For reference, New Jersey went from $578.7 million in July, $664.6 million in August to $1.01 billion in sports betting handle in September of 2021.

Translation — the slump that has started will end! We just have to live through a few months of disappointing numbers.

Make sure to keep an eye on our live odds page throughout the week to get the best lines possible and connect with others in the SBR community on our popular sports betting forum.

Written By:
Dave Bonderoff
Dave Bonderoff and betting go hand-in-hand. Both are characterized by "odds". Dave fancies himself as one of the most dedicated sports and pop-culture junkies around, to the chagrin of his family and friends. Following sports for 50 years and writing about it for 20, Dave hasn't found a sport yet that can't contribute to 2-3 straight hours of couch time. That search remains ongoing. As a good old Canadian boy, hockey is in Dave’s heart, as is curling sadly. But evolution is a real thing and that’s why football, baseball, and just about every sport on the planet has become a passion. Dave isn’t afraid to kill some time obsessing over politics or the far-too-frequent awards shows the consume the airwaves.