Golden Nugget Set to Enter West Virginia Sports Betting Market
Published December 7, 2020 by Elana K
Golden Nugget Online Gaming has announced a new partnership with West Virginia’s Greenbrier. Perhaps the new addition to the state's sports betting market will give its numbers a much-needed boost.
Golden Nugget Online Gaming has announced a new partnership with West Virginia’s Greenbrier. The partnership will allow the Golden Nugget to enter the West Virginia market and offer both online casino games and sports betting. Remote registration will be an option and the Golden Nugget already has a dedicated mobile app.
The Golden Nugget is the third partner of The Greenbrier to offer mobile sports betting and casino gambling. The land-based casino resort will collect a share of the Golden Nugget’s gross gaming revenues from online sports betting and casino games.
Can the Golden Nugget Give West Virginia Sports Betting a Boost?
The entry of the Golden Nugget into the Mountain State may help boost the state’s faltering sports betting numbers. In New Jersey, the Nugget has been the consistent market leader in online gambling pretty much since the launch of sports betting. While that doesn’t signify its success in West Virginia, it’s a good indicator of what’s possible.
Unfortunately, West Virginia’s industry needs all the help it can get. In October, the state’s sportsbooks took in a handle of $45 million, down $18 million from September’s handle of $63 million.
The strange thing about October’s decline is that it happened in the sphere of online sports betting, not retail betting. In most states that offer online sports betting, it accounts for the majority of the handle on a consistent basis. In West Virginia, mobile betting also accounts for the majority, but in October the percentage came to 60%, whereas it had been at a record high of 76% in September.
The good news is that according to the year-on-year comparison, West Virginia’s sports handle increased by 20.6% from October 2019 and the mobile handle increased by nearly 61%. Perhaps this past month was just a fluke.
