Football season brought a sports betting boom in Virginia as the Commonwealth’s sportsbooks reported their second-best month of wagering revenue ever in September.
Virginia’s 12 online sportsbooks and three retail operators combined for a sports betting handle of $622.1 million in September, per the Virginia Lottery’s figures. That was up 19.6% year-over-year and was the fifth-highest number since sports betting launched in Virginia more than two years ago. $618.3 million of that total amount in bets came on online or mobile platforms.
Gross revenue for the month was $71.5 million, up 32.3% year-over-year, while adjusted revenue saw an even bigger increase of 44.4% compared to Sept. 2023, up to $65.9 million. Both handle and revenue soared from August, boosted by college football hitting its stride and the NFL returning.
Virginia does not release individual operator information or a sport-by-sport breakdown, but we do know that operators paid out $550.2 million in wins, wrote off $5.7 million in promotional play and had a combined hold of 11.5% in September.
The state took just short of $10 million in sports betting tax revenue. The state specifies that 97.5% of that total is deposited into the state’s General Fund and the remaining 2.5% ($247,000, in September’s case), goes towards the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund administered by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Virginia does not release individual operator information or a sport-by-sport breakdown.
Virginia betting market evolves
While they will not begin to be reflected in any Virginia Lottery numbers until this time next month, Virginia’s sports betting market underwent a couple of changes in October.
Firstly, in early October, British bookmaker Betfred ceased operating in the state on Oct. 21, adding Virginia to a list of abandoned states that also includes Colorado, Maryland and Ohio. Last month, the operator also announced plans to close up shop in Arizona on Nov. 4 after failing to increase market share and drive profits.
Then, just days after Betfred completed its withdrawal, sports wagering platform Sporttrade launched in Virginia on Oct. 24.
Old Dominion is Sporttrade’s fifth state of operation and second launch in a matter of weeks after it joined the fray in Arizona.
