Virginia Ends 2023 with 2nd-Best Month in Sports Betting

Virginia sports betting apps and the state's retail providers capped off a very good 2023 with its second-best handle and revenue month ever in December since Virginia sports betting was legalized in 2021.

According to the Virginia Lottery December report, sports betting activity and revenue figures for the last month of 2023 capped off a record year for the best sports betting sites in the Old Dominion.

Both the state's handle and revenue figures for December were up substantially from the same 12-month period last year, with the wide array of Virginia sportsbook promos surely playing a role amid the industry's rapid expansion in 2023.

In the process, Virginia became the 10th U.S. state to eclipse $13 billion in accepted wagers since their legal sports betting scene went live in January 2021.

December handle for Virginia exceeds $600 million

The best sportsbooks in Virginia and the state's retail sports wagering providers combined to take in $633,181,758 in wagers in December, falling just shy of November's record-setting figure of $638.8 million in bets.

The figure is also an eye-opening $130 million more than the nearly $511 million haul reported for December 2022 - good for a 25.9% year-over-year spike over 12 months.

Virginia sports betting apps were responsible for the overwhelming majority of sports betting activity in the state, as $625,516,403 of the overall handle came from Virginia's best live betting sites, while retail contributed $7,665,355.

For the year, Virginia sportsbooks took in a total of $5.59 billion. That total is 13.7% better than the wagering activity in the state in 2022.

Virginia records 2nd-best gross revenues in December

Gross revenues for Virginia sportsbooks also reported their second-best month ever in December with $63.6 million in gross gaming revenue reported for the month. That's a whopping 47.9% month-over-month improvement from November's underwhelming $43 million revenue total.

The $63.6 million December haul is just under $400,000 below the record state monthly revenue haul of $64 million set in November. It is more than $13.5 million better than Virginia sportsbook revenues reported in December 2022.

The win rate for Virginia sportsbooks in December came in at just above 10% in December. The state finished the year with a hold rate just slightly above the 10% level and hit that mark in nine of the 12 months in 2023.

Meanwhile, $57.2 million in adjusted gross revenues was produced during the December reporting period after promotions and deductions. At the same time, $560.2 million in gross revenue was generated for Virginia sportsbooks during the full year 2023, which is a year-over-year 16.4% improvement.

Thanks to a 15% tax rate for Virginia sportsbooks, taxes collected from Virginia sports betting apps in December came to $8.5 million from the record $57.2 million in adjusted gross revenues. For the entire year, Virginia sportsbooks paid a total of $72.3 million in taxes, which is a $20.5 million improvement from the full year 2022.

The Virginia Lottery does not publish the handle and revenue figures for individual sportsbooks, but we can assume that FanDuel and DraftKings led the way, as they do in most states.