Virginia began its second year of legal sports wagering with a record monthly handle, as the Virginia Lottery reported more than $485.5 million worth of wagers placed in January.
The figure was a 13.8% improvement from the $426.7 million reported for December and eased past the previous all-time high of $427.3 million in October. It was the fourth straight month Virginia handle exceeded $400 million, and the January total helped the national amount eclipse $8 billion for the first time in the post-PASPA era.
The state has generated more than $3.7 billion handle through its first 12-plus months, having launched in late January 2021. Virginia, which came close to being the eighth state to reach half a billion in handle in January, currently ranks eighth among all states in that category.
Virginia’s 11 mobile operators combined to post an 8% hold, resulting in slightly more than $39 million in gross gaming revenue. That was a 23.9% improvement from December and the second-highest monthly total behind November’s $48.3 million, which was fueled by a 12% win rate by operators.
When including bonuses, free-play incentives, and authorized deductions, the state was eligible to tax $18.2 million in adjusted gross revenue. Virginia taxes that revenue at 15%, which led to the state receiving just shy of $2.9 million in receipts. It was the fourth time in 12 full months of wagering that Virginia collected more than $2 million in taxes from operators.
Bonuses and free play accounted for nearly $17 million in revenue, while deductions totaled just shy of $4 million. It was the fifth consecutive month and seventh overall where bonuses and free-play incentives totaled at least $10 million. Deductions have totaled at least $2 million in all 12 full months of wagering.
The Virginia Lottery does not disclose handle and revenue totals for each operator, but did note that four of the 11 finished with a net positive AGR that allowed taxes to be collected. There has yet to be a month where more than four operators finished with a net positive AGR despite a combined total of nearly $150 million reported among them.
The state agency also does not disclose wager and revenue totals by sport type.
