Sports Betting Revenue in Virginia Hit $266m in First Full Month
The first full month handle saw a total of $266M ($265,778,306) in revenue generated by sportsbooks in Virginia. This is according to the figures released by the Virginia Lottery in February. This is the same month that the United States held one of its biggest sporting events, the Super Bowl.
A Total Breakdown of the Revenue
Of the $265,778,306 collected from sports wagering in Virginia, $19.6 million or 7% of the revenue was from the Super Bowl event. This is a result of legal sports betting in the first full month in the Commonwealth. A new sports betting platform also joined the market, contributing a significant portion to the revenue.
William Hill is the operator in question. This operator launched its operations on February 3, 2021. As a result, it became the fifth sportsbook to operate legally in Virginia. William Hill joins four top sports betting platforms, BetRivers, BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
Of the four operators, DraftKings and FanDuel started operations on January 24. BetRivers and BetMGM launched on January 27. In their first 11 days after debuting their sports betting operations in Virginia, the operators delivered $59 million in wagering amounts.
Inevitable Losses After Low Operator Hold
Winnings paid out to bettors by the sportsbooks in February stood at $253,539,526. From the total revenue collected, it meant the operators remained with $12,238,780. This represented a 4.6% hold, a lower amount compared to the initial 6.1% recorded in January. Overall this was lower than the industry average of 7.2%.
Bonuses and promotions also had to be covered, with these operators spending $13,187,560 of the $12,238,780 in Gross Gaming Receipts (GGR). This occasioned a $3,231,752 loss in Adjusted Gaming Receipts following other deductions of $2,282,972.
The state of Virginia imposed an AGR tax, with sportsbooks paying $300,593.91 in tax to the state. Of this amount, $293,079.06 or 97.5% went to the General Fund. The Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund got $7,514.85 or 2.5%.
More Sportsbooks Enter the Virginia Gambling Market
WynnBet became the sixth sports betting operator to enter the Virginia gambling market. This was after launching operations on March 11. More sportsbooks joined this list after the Virginia Lottery handed them temporary permits on March 15. These sportsbooks include Golden Nugget, Bally’s, and Barstool Sports.
Virginia state has capped the number of permits for online sportsbooks to 12. However, the number of legal online sports betting platforms is set to surpass this number. The Governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, signed these bills in January.
The bills signed by the Governor, SB 1254 and HB 1847, came with provisions that ensure the number of online casinos in several cities doesn’t exceed the number of online sports betting platforms. These cities are Richmond, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Danville.
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