Wyoming’s first month of regulated sports betting got off to solid start with operators reporting $954,416 in gross revenue for September 2021. But, as is so often the case, the devil is in the details or in this case – the net revenue.
The Cowboy State currently has two regulated operators, DraftKings and BetMGM. Because there are no land-based casinos in Wyoming, both operators are running from a strictly online platform.
That’s proven to be popular with the people of Wyoming, who dropped $6.2 million in bets for the month. Though that number is dwarfed by New Jersey’s $1 billion recording breaking September, it’s worth noting that Wyoming’s population is only 578,579.
While gross revenue for sports betting operators came in just a hair under $1 million, their net was a less impressive -$124,969. That disparity reflects the extremely high cost of customer acquisition in the red-hot regulated US sports betting market.
All those free bets and over-the-top introductory specials are both extremely expensive, and the cost of building a customer base in a new market. Operators are predicting that October’s gross revenue will be a lot higher as the market begins to settle (a phenomenon that happens a lot faster in a state with barely half a million people of any age).
As is the case in almost every US state, Wyoming’s players love football above all other sports. Operators reported $3.6 million in football wagers with a gross gaming revenue of $512,885. By way of comparison, baseball brought in just $959,590 worth of bets and a gross gaming revenue of $100,111, according to a report on LegalSportsReport.
Wyoming lawmakers approved regulated sports betting back in April and launched it officially on September 1. The Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission is expected to approve FanDuel’s application to enter the market when they meet in November.