Virginia’s sportsbooks managed to set a new monthly handle record in January, beating its previous best by more than 13%, according to PlayVirginia, which tracks the state’s sports betting market.
The Old Dominion state’s sportsbooks were able to set new records in wagering thanks to NFL action taking place during every weekend of the month.
Dann Stupp, a lead analyst for PlayVirginia.com, stated: “Five weekends of football, which included an extra week of regular season football and an expanded NFL playoffs, were unquestionably a boon for sportsbooks in January.
“Sportsbooks will begin to slow down after March Madness. But the industry made a giant leap forward during the football season, and that has it on solid footing for the year ahead.”
Data from the Virginia Lottery has revealed $485.5m was wagered at Virginia sportsbooks in January, setting a new monthly handle record. The previous best of $427.3m was set back in October last year.
From month to month, January’s wagers were up 13.8% from December’s $426.6m. The daily wagering average improved to $15.7m per day over the 31 days of the month (December: $13.8m per day).
Virginia’s sportsbooks earned their second-best all-time gross revenue in January, winning $39.1m. After $16.9m in promotional spending and $4.0m in other deductions, $18.2m was generated in taxable revenue, yielding $2.9m in state taxes.
The Old Dominion state only launched its sports betting market on January 21 last year, but betting volume has more than doubled since then. Sportsbooks generated $5.4m in wagers per day during their first 11 days of operations in the state, producing $3.6m in revenue on $58.9m.
Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayVirginia.com, commented: “Virginia’s sportsbooks still have significant room for growth. Over the last five months, operators have continued to expand their reach to new customers.
“But just as important, individual bettors are wagering more than a year ago as they become more familiar with the myriad products online sportsbooks are offering.”
