After five months, Virginia’s sports betting market announced half a million in wagers and, with it still being early in the football season, there is more to come this fall.
The Virginia Lottery announced that its online and retail sportsbooks accepted $520.3 million in bets in September, a roughly 63% month-over-month increase. When looking at September 2022, Virginia saw a 26% yearly increase.
Of the $520 million handle, mobile operators took in $514.7 million, which is 99% of the entire market. Roughly $5.6 million was placed at one of Virginia’s casinos. All of these operators paid out $466.2 million in winning tickets, which was an overall hold of 10.4%, slightly higher than August’s 10%.
That means, after deductions, the operators in the commonwealth made $45.6 million in adjusted gross revenue, well above August’s $27.9 million. From that revenue, Virginia took $7 million in taxes, which was 70% more than the previous month.
From that revenue, Virginia took $7 million in taxes, which was 70% more than the previous month.
In a breakdown of the mobile-versus-retail operators, the mobile operators matched the commonwealth’s monthly growth in handle at 63%, while the brick-and-mortar locations saw nearly a 70% increase in action.
Promotions explode in September
After months of declining promotional offers, Virginia finally saw an uptick in boosts and free bets. In September, there were $3.6 million in promotional deductions with the commonwealth, nearly five times higher than August’s $743,000.
But the $3.6 million doesn’t paint an accurate picture since only newer operators (those launching in the past 12 months) are allowed to make deductions from their gross revenue. The top sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, etc) increased their bonuses but took those losses without any assistance.
In what may be a related note, despite the uptick in bets, several operators did not report a good month. Just seven sportsbooks reported a profit in September, compared to the 11 who made money in August.
