Virginia is the latest US state with legal sports betting to record more than $1bn in bets post-launch.
In less than five months of legal sports wagering the state of Virginia has seen its sports betting handle surpass the $1bn mark.
According to the latest figures from the Virginia Lottery, bettors in the state wagered $226.9m on sports in May.
Thanks to May’s handle, the state has now surpassed $1bn in total bets since launching sports betting on 21 January 2021.
Turning to revenue, sportsbooks in the state managed to generate $15.7m in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), pushing the state’s total AGR to $34.4m.
Sportsbooks in Virginia spent $5.1m on promotional credits, bring the total spend since launch to $40.6m.
The state collected $2.4m in taxes in May and has so far received $5.4m in taxes since the market went live.
Month-on-month comparisons
Despite passing the $1bn mark in less than five months, the state’s figures continued to drop in May.
May’s handle was down from the $236.4m wagered in April while AGR was up from $11.4m last month. This mark’s the second month-on-month drop for the market after April’s handle of $236.4m was down from March’s $304.1m.
The drop in figures can be attributed to a lack of sporting events to bet as March Madness has now ended and football season has yet to kick off.
More sportsbooks to enter the market
In May, there were seven active sportsbook operators which included FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Rivers, William Hill, WynnBet, and Unibet.
Other operators are preparing to enter the market in the coming months. At the time of writing, BallyBet, Barstool, and Golden Nugget have licenses to operate in the state but have yet to launch.
Sports betting in Virginia
The state of Virginia legalised sports betting in April 2020 after the state legislature passed a sports betting bill that would allow sportsbook apps to launch by the end of 2020.
Virginia’s sports betting market launched on 21 January 2021 with the launch of the FanDuel sportsbook via a partnership with the Washington Football Team.
In March, Virginia’s governor signed a new bill into law which made several changes to the state’s betting market. This included offering five more sports betting licenses.
