Virginia Sportsbooks Stay Hot, Reap $45 Million in July

Virginia Sportsbooks Stay Hot, Reap $45 Million in July article feature image
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(Photo by Ryan Hunt/Getty Images) Pictured: Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw

The Virginia Lottery reported $45 million in gross sports betting revenue for July on Friday as the state's sportsbooks notched a collective double-digit hold for the fourth consecutive month.

Overall, Virginia's operators have posted a 10.4% hold through the first seven months of 2024, reaping $383.1 million from close to $3.7 billion worth of wagers. It was the 12th time in 43 months since launch that Virginia's sportsbooks combined for an 11% or higher hold, and three of those instances have come this year.

July's revenue was up 38.5% from last year, outpacing the 28.6% increase in handle to $377.6 million as the hold was nearly nine-tenths of a percentage point higher. Revenue was down only 1.2% from June, while handle tailed off by 9.6%

July also marked the first time in state history Virginia outperformed Nevada in terms of handle, with the larger-populated Old Dominion conducting 99.6% of the month's wagering online compared to 67.6% in Nevada.

Good Month for Sportsbooks Means a Good Month for Tax Coffers

Running July Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:

1 New York $1.26B
2 New Jersey $652.3M
3 Penn. $414.7M
4 Mass. $411.8M
5 VIRGINIA $377.6M
6 Nevada $375.9M
7 N. Carolina $340.4M
8 Maryland $333.3M
9 Colorado $320.4M
10 Tenn. $271.5M#SportsBettingX#GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) August 30, 2024

The Virginia Lottery doesn't disclose handle and revenue figures by operators, but the state was eligible to levy taxes on $40.4 million in adjusted gross revenue in July. Promotional spend was an all-time low at $7,432 as only Betr was eligible to take such deductions against gross revenue. The remaining $4.6 million in reported deductions were due to operator loss carryover from previous months and the 0.25% federal excise tax on handle.

The state received nearly $6.1 million in receipts for July, lifting the year-to-date total to $51.1 million. The Virginia Lottery reported 10 operators finished with positive AGR in July that made them eligible to pay the state's 15% levy.

The taxes collected in 2024 are $12.5 million more than the first seven months of 2023. Virginia also moved within $4.6 million of $200 million in total tax revenue since the first bets were placed in late January 2021.

Overall, handle has surged 27.1% this year compared to the same period in 2023, while gross revenue is slightly behind with a 26.4% increase. Adjusted revenue, though, has increased 35.2% to $343.8 million, and the all-time total narrowly eclipsed $1.3 billion.

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About the Author
Chris is a Senior Analyst at Better Collective US and his focus is breaking down monthly sports betting revenue figures from state agencies across the United States. Prior to joining Better Collective in November 2019, Chris acquired more than two decades worth of experience at three national sports news wire services.

Follow Chris Altruda @altruda73 on Twitter/X.

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