Virginia Underscoregs Set Handle and Revenue Records in January 2024

The latest Virginia Lottery report on legal sports betting activity in January has been released, showing encouraging results as our top sportsbooks played a key role in a successful month.

While other states experienced a decrease in betting activity in January 2024, Virginia’s sports betting apps and retail providers reached record highs in both handle and revenues for the month.

For the third consecutive month, Virginia sports betting exceeded $600 million in wagers in January, marking the first time gross revenues for state providers surpassed $70 million.

$652.9 million January handle

The Virginia Lottery announced a new record handle for the Old Dominion in January, with state providers reporting $652.9 million in accepted sports bets. This easily surpassed the previous record of $638.8 million set in November 2023. Residents took full advantage of various Virginia sportsbook promotions while helping to establish the new record.

The $652.9 million reflects a significant 27.2% increase compared to the total sports betting activity of nearly $511 million in January 2023 and is also 3.1% higher than the handle of almost $633.2 million in December.

In January, Virginia sports betting sites generated $646.246 million in handle, while retail providers contributed $6.6 million. The retail handle exceeded the total from January 2023 by more than three times.

Revenues soar

Virginia’s revenues reached a record high in January, surpassing $70 million for the first time. The gross revenue of $74.3 million easily exceeded the previous record of just under $64 million set in October.

The $74.3 million represents a strong 49.5% increase compared to January 2023’s $49.4 million, and is nearly $11 million higher than December’s $63.6 million.

In January, Virginia sportsbooks mostly outperformed the public, with a hold rate of 11.4% for betting apps and a 14.1% win rate for physical locations.

Virginia sportsbooks generated $67.5 million in adjusted gross revenues, resulting in $9.9 million in taxes for state and local tax coffers. This tax is a 15% levy imposed by the commonwealth on adjusted gross revenues.

Including January’s totals, Virginia’s top sportsbooks have now contributed over $150 million in taxes since beginning operations just over three years ago.

Other Virginia sports betting news

The Virginia House of Delegates passed a Bill on Thursday granting the West Virginia Lottery Commission authority to safeguard athletes from the increasing reports of harassment in the American sports landscape. The vote resulted in a resounding 90-1 approval.

The Senate is expected to pass HB 4700, as it is now their responsibility.

HB 4700 allows for the possibility of prohibiting individuals from betting on sports in the state if they are discovered to be harassing athletes, coaches, or officials involved in sporting events.

Virginia’s action against harassment contributes to a larger initiative within the entire U.S. legal sports betting industry to combat this behavior.