Virginia sports betting hold hits near-record in February

Players spent a total of $556.8 million (£430.9 million/€515.6 million) betting on sports in February. This surpassed the previous year by 2.2% but fell 24.4% short of January this year in Virginia.

Of this, $553 million was wagered online, while $3.8 million was bet at retail sportsbooks across the state. This is according to figures published yesterday (1 April) by the Virginia Lottery.

Players won $490 million from betting while some $4.9 million was accounted for in other, undisclosed deductions.

Revenue rises 39.1% in Virginia

As such, this resulted in adjusted gross revenue of $61.9 million. This beat February 2024 by 39.1% but was 23.6% less than January this year.

Online betting accounted for $61.7 million of all revenue, with retail’s contribution reaching just $206,590.

This left a total monthly hold of 11.12%, the highest since 11.77% in September 2022. Online hold topped 11.16% and retail 5.41%.

Sports betting tax reaches $9.3 million

The Virginia Lottery does not publish a detailed breakdown of operator performance. A total of 14 online operators and three land-based sportsbooks were active in February.

However, the Lottery does make data public in terms of tax revenue. For the month of February, the state received $9.3 million from sports betting operations.

Some $9.1 million went to the General Fund Allocation and $232,599 to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund Allocation.

 Sports betting hold in Virginia reached 11.12% in February, its highest monthly percentage since September 2022, as the state reported year-on-year growth across both revenue and handle.