Virginia Sports Betting Revenue Passes $1 Billion In Four Months
Several recent additions to the legal sports betting ranks have found immediate success. Michigan has gotten off to a roaring start, as has Virginia.
After launching on January 21, the Virginia sports betting industry surpassed $1 billion in handle by the end of May, just the fourth full month of operations.
As previously reported, the normalization of online gambling and increased consumer awareness regarding legal sports betting options is driving these tremendous early returns.
Topline Numbers for Virginia Sports Betting
- May 2021 sports betting handle = $226,963,573
- Total betting handle since launch = $1,092,137,212
- May 2021 sports betting adjusted revenue = $15,663,201
- Total sports betting adjusted revenue since launch = $34,420,986
- May 2021 tax revenue = $2,381,115.69
- Total tax revenue since launch = $5,557,054.31
Promotional Spend and Deductions Impact Tax Revenue
Virginia’s statute allows operators to deduct certain customer acquisition costs from AGR. The tax revenue numbers are calculated on AGR – the state collects 15% of AGR from operators.
Those deductions are quite substantial, as $5.1 million in bonuses and promotions were deducted in May, along with another $2.3 million in other unspecified deductions. That is nearly a third of total revenue for the month. Without the deductions, the state would have collected over $1 million more in tax revenue.
As a result, only four of the seven operators posted positive revenue numbers.
Since launch, operators have deducted $50.5 million.
Where the Tax Revenue Goes
Per the Virginia Lottery:
“Of the state tax on sports betting AGR, the statute specifies 97.5 percent is to be deposited in the state’s General Fund and 2.5 percent is to be deposited into the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund administered by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health.”
That translates to roughly $139,000 sent to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund since launch.
Active Operators Continues to Grow
There were seven active operators in May:
- FanDuel Virginia (Betfair Interactive US LLC)
- DraftKings Virginia (Crown Virginia Gaming LLC)
- BetMGM Virginia (BetMGM LLC)
- BetRivers Virginia (Portsmouth Gaming Holdings LLC)
- Caesars Virginia (Caesars Sportsbook LLC)
- Wynnbet (WSI US, LLC)
- Unibet Virginia (Unibet Interactive)
Several other operators are still waiting in the wings:
- Golden Nugget Online Gaming VA, LLC
Temporary Permit – Approved 3/15/2021 - Bally’s Corporation
Temporary Permit – Approved 3/15/2021 - Penn Sports Interactive, LLC
Temporary Permit – Approved 3/15/2021
Related: Virginia Sports Betting Revenue September 2021
Steve Ruddock is the content director for BettingUSA and the Editor-in-Chief of Gaming Law Review.
Steve has covered the legal and legislative developments in the US gambling sector for more than a decade for online and print publications.
