The state of Virginia officially launched sports betting in January 2021, and there has already been over $1 billion in wagers placed since that time. The May sports betting handle actually saw a slight dip from April, but the numbers were still solid for the state.
The total sports betting handle in Virginia for the month of May was $227 million, which was a drop of 4% from the $236.4 million recorded in April. The adjusted gross revenue for the month was $15.7 million, and that was an increase of nearly 40 percent.
Virginia was expected to become a solid sport betting market, and that has been the case up to his point. At this time, all sports betting in Virginia is being done online, but that will be changing in 2022.
May is typically a slow month for the US sports betting market as most of the professional sports are starting to wind down. Football is the biggest market in the United States, but basketball and baseball are two other popular sports to bet on.
Virginia is a state that had strict gambling laws in place before lawmakers were able to approve expanded gaming, including sports betting.
Tax Revenue Up
Despite a slight dip in the total sports betting handle for the month, the state was able to see a big jump in tax revenue collected. Taxes for the month of May came in at $2.4 million, which was a jump of 44% from the month of April.
Virginia is a state that does not provide a breakdown of each operator for the month, and so it is unclear as to which operator is the market leader. The state did announce that four operators had a positive adjusted gross revenue for the month.
Still a Growing Market
As mentioned above, retail sports betting will be available at some point in 2022, but there is still growth happening with online sports betting. There are currently seven online sportsbooks live in Virginia, and more are on the way.
Bally’s, Barstool, and Golden Nugget have all been approved to offer online sports betting, and a launch
for each operator is scheduled before the start of the 2021 NFL season. September should break the record for handle and revenue in the state as the NFL will provide a huge boost to the industry.
Mixed Results Throughout US
Not all of the states have reported on May sports betting numbers yet, but the results have been mixed throughout the United States. At this time, Virginia is in sixth place in terms of total betting handle, but that will be changing after all states have reported.
New Jersey is leading the way in terms of sports betting in May as that state saw more than $814 million in total betting handle. Nevada also saw a jump in sports betting from April, but that state totaled just $477.2 million.
Colorado posted a sports betting handle of $244 million in May, and that market is similar in size to Virginia.
