Virginia Hits Milestone $10-Billion Handle Mark Despite Sports Betting Slide in April

The Virginia Lottery released its April sports betting revenue report on June 1, and though it revealed a month-over-month dip in wagering activity (as is the case at many of our best sports betting apps during the Spring months), there was some good news that accompanied those figures.

There was positive news on a few fronts with Virginia's sports betting figures in April.

Despite the month-over-month drop, it wasn't as drastic as those in other jurisdictions that released their April numbers. Additionally, Year-over-year betting activity in the state experienced a slight increase, and Virginia hit a milestone lifetime mark that only a handful of states have reached.

Checking out April's handle

Virginia sports betting sites took in just shy of $426 million in total bets in April. It marked the eighth straight month that sportsbooks in the state surpassed the $400-million mark in terms of the overall handle.

However, as we've seen in the past, May could spell the end of the longest streak the Virginia sports betting scene has had of eclipsing the $400-million plateau.

April 2023's Virginia handle was 16.7% lower than the $511.6 million taken in by sportsbooks in the state in March. However, year-over-year, Virginia’s handle increased by about 6.6% from the  $399.5 million reported in April 2022.

Virginia stayed within the top 10 sports betting jurisdictions in April. Those states are as follows:

1. New York: $1.55 billion
2. New Jersey: around $834 million
3. Nevada: $598 million
4. Massachusetts: $579.3 million
5. Pennsylvania: $572.2 million
6. Ohio: $522.7 million
7. Virginia: around $426 million
8. Michigan: $338.1 million
9. Maryland: $328.5 million
10. Indiana: $321.4 million

Gross revenue month-over-month decline

Gross revenues for the Virginia sports betting scene also saw a month-over-month decline, but as was the case with its April handle, the drop-off wasn't nearly as stark as the ones experienced in other states.

Virginia reported $45.1 million in gross revenues from sports betting sites in April, thanks to a sportsbook-friendly 10.6% hold. It is only the sixth time since 2021 that the hold rate in the state has eclipsed 10%.

April's gross revenue figures are just over $10 million less than the $55.3 million from March 2023 but serve as a nearly $9-million improvement from the $36.3 million in gross revenues from April 2022.

Thanks to Virginia's 15% tax rate, the best sportsbooks in Virginia contributed almost $5.8 million in taxes to needy state and local tax coffers.

$10-billion milestone

With April's handle figures factored in, Virginia sports betting providers have now combined to take in over $10 billion since the platform went live in the state in January 2021.

Virginia became just the ninth state in America to reach that milestone and joins New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, and Michigan as the only states thus far to eclipse the $10-billion plateau. The top 10 all-time performing U.S. states are as follows:

1. New Jersey: $37.5 billion
2. Nevada: $32.5 billion
3. New York: $23.3 billion
4. Illinois: $21.7 billion
5. Pennsylvania: $21.6 billion
6. Indiana: $12.04 billion
7. Colorado: $11.68 billion
8. Michigan: $10.5billion
9. Virginia: $10.02 billion
10. Arizona: $8.98 billion

The numbers through the 1st quarter of 2023

Virginia betting sites have experienced a year-over-year increase for the first quarter of this year, unlike many of the jurisdictions that have already reported their April revenue reports.

Through the first four months of 2023, the Virginia legal sports betting scene has generated almost $1.9 billion in total bets, which is a 7.3% increase over the same four-month period last year.

Gross revenues for Virginia sportsbooks also experienced an uptick over the period ranging from Jan. 1 to April 30 of 2022 vs. the same period in 2023.

Betting sites in Virginia made $189.9 million, which is an impressive 39.1% increase from last year. An average 10.1% hold rate for providers was largely responsible for that. During the first quarter of 2022, the average hold rate was 7.8%.