It was a busy end to 2023 for sportsbooks in Virginia, as operators handled almost $640m in November with states enjoying a flurry of betting activity via the NFL.
Per the Virginia Lottery, operators handled $638.8m during the 30 days of November, marking an increase of 23.1% year-over-year. It also marks a near 12% increase in bets from October, highlighting the strength of the month’s betting opportunities.
However, while operators enjoyed strong handle throughout November, the hold rate was at a weak 6.7% which was also witnessed in several other states as sporting results favored bettors.
This meant operators had a GGR of $43m in November after payout winnings of $595.8m, marking a decrease of around 25% year-over-year driven by the low hold rate.
Under Virginia’s state laws, operators are allowed to deduct promotional credit and other costs from their taxable revenue figures. During November, operators took advantage of this, deducting $1.5m in promotional credits and over $5m in other deductions.
Consequently, operators reported taxable revenue of $36.4m.
With a 15% tax levied on operator’s AGR, sportsbooks in Virginia paid out $5.5m to the state in November. This was broken down into $5.34m for the General Fund Allocation and $137k for the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund Allocation.
The Virginia Lottery does not provide an operator-by-operator or sport-by-sport breakdown of revenue.
