Connecticut Online Casino Revenue Up Slightly in April as Sports Betting Falls

Online casinos in Connecticut had a slight rise in April compared to March, the best news for the state in a month when numbers for both iGaming and sports betting otherwise declined.

Connecticut launched real money online casinos in October 2021, along with mobile and retail sports betting.

Here are three takeaways from April gaming in Connecticut.

The online gaming industry in general is far less volatile than sports betting, which rises and falls in every market on a monthly basis depending on which sports are happening.

This is reflected in the numbers reported by the Connecticut State Department of Consumer Protection. 

April’s total taxable gaming revenue for iGaming in the Nutmeg State was $18,467,342, a 0.8% increase over the $18,319,714 reported in March. The state revenue share rose by the same percentage, from $3,297,724 in March to $3,324,122 last month.

This came despite the fact that the handle fell 7.4%, from $820.9 million in March to $760.56 million in April.

A pattern has repeated itself not only among longtime bettors at Nevada sportsbooks, but in more than 30 states that have made legal, regulated sports betting in the past four years: Once March Madness subsides, wagering action does too.

This trend continued in Connecticut.

With the NFL in its offseason lull and the NCAA Basketball Tournament only offering Final Four games in April – a popular event for sure but with nowhere near the volume of games as the first few rounds of the tourney – the month’s decline in handle comes as no surprise.

April’s total sports betting handle was $116,465,199, down 17.3% from March’s $140,747,137. The mobile betting in Connecticut was down by almost an identical amount, falling 17.1% from $131.9 million in March to $109.44 million in April.

The retail sports betting handle last month was $7,024,573, down 20.2% from $8,802,856 in March.

The revenue and tax share declined by 4.8% in a month-over-month comparison. Taxable revenue from sports betting was $7.19 million and the state share was $988,263 in April.

The state added a new iGaming option in the first quarter of 2022 as Inspired Gaming partnered with DraftKings to offer its online gaming products.

Connecticut is one of six states with online gaming, along with Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan. Those states plus Nevada have also legalized online poker.