Virginia Sportsbooks Claim $50 Million In February Revenue

The Virginia Lottery reported $50 million in gross sports betting revenue for February on Monday, the third straight month operators reached that benchmark.

The $545.1 million handle for February represented a 25.6% increase compared to 12 months prior. All but $4.9 million of that amount came via sports betting apps as Virginia‘s three retail casinos had a 6.6% hold and claimed $325,100 in winnings.

Gross revenue was up 25.8% as the 9.2% hold was practically flat from 2023. Handle was down 16.5% from the record $652.9 million in January, while revenue plunged 32.1% as this month’s hold was more than 2.2 percentage points lower.

Year-over-year adjusted gross revenue, however, was 56.6% higher at $44.5 million. That allowed the state to collect $6.3 million in tax receipts for February. The $16.3 million in tax revenue for the first two months of 2024 is already $5.2 million ahead of last year’s pace.

All-time low for promotional deductions

Running February 2024 Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:

1 New York $1.78B
2 New Jersey $1.08B
3 Nevada $711.9M
4 Penn. $661.7M
5 VIRGINIA $545.1M
6 Mass. $542.5M
7 Maryland $442.6M
8 Michigan $415.8M
9 Indiana $408.7M
10 Tenn. $378.2M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) April 1, 2024

The legislative change that was signed into law as part of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget in which mobile operators could only deduct promotional credits and bonuses in their first 12 months of business was front and center in February’s numbers because it appears to have marked the end of bet365‘s ability to do so.

The England-based sportsbook was not shy about courting business in the commonwealth, lavishing $28.7 million worth of play to bettors after launching in late January 2023. Despite a 13.9% hold since launch, bet365 still entered February with an adjusted gross revenue total of minus-$2.9 million.

There is a chance bet365 may have zeroed out that sum in February as it topped $3.4 million in gross winnings in each of the last two months.

The remaining mobile operators eligible to deduct promotional credits are Betr and SuperBook, though neither offer bonuses on such a grand scale. The $20,981 in promotional deductions reported for February are an all-time low in 38 months of wagering in Virginia and a far cry from the $7.8 million claimed in the same month last year — when bet365 accounted for all but $310,813 of that amount.

While deductions that included loss carryover and any potential operator losses for February totaled $5.6 million, the overall amount of deductions — promotions, loss carryover, and the federal excise tax — counted against gross revenue for the month were less than half the $11.4 million reported in February 2023.

The Virginia Lottery does not disclose handle and revenue figures by operator in its monthly releases but noted 11 operators finished with a net positive adjusted gross revenue that was eligible for taxation.