It’s important to remember that Virginia is a young sports betting market and it will have some months like April. Every state saw a decline in April, and the 22% decrease in total sports handle in Virginia was not unexpected.
April is just the third full month for Virginia sports betting and the state posted a handle of $236.4 million, a drop of about $70 million from March’s $304.1 million, according to figures from the Virginia Lottery on Friday.
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The NCAA Tournament ended in the early part of April and there simply weren’t as many betting opportunities. But the $236.4 million in April ties it for sixth with Indiana among legal sports betting states. And Indiana’s sports betting market has been up and running since September 2019.
VA Sports Betting Handle & Revenue, April vs. March
| Total Handle | Revenue | Taxes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | $236.433M | $11.380M | $1.652M |
| March | $304.066M | $13.845M | $1.183M |
| Change | Down 22.2% | Down 17.8% | Up 39.6% |
Here are some key points from the April online sports betting report for Virginia:
Tax Numbers Increase
Taxes paid to the state were much better in April than March, even with the total handle going down.
The state collected $1.65 million in taxes in April, a 39.8% increase over the $1.18 million collected in March. Of the taxes collected in April, $1.61 million went to the general fund and about $41,000 going to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund.
The adjusted gross revenue for April was $11.4 million, down from March’s $13.5 million. Virginia bookmakers had an 8.22% hold in April, a slight dip from March’s 8.74% hold. The state gave away $5.5 million in promotions and bonuses. They also had about $2.5 million in other deductions.
Three Sportsbooks Waiting to Launch
Golden Nugget, Bally’s Corp. and Penn National Gaming (Barstool Sportsbook) have been approved by the Virginia Lottery, but they have not launched.
Unibet went live on April 28, becoming the seventh sportsbook available in Virginia.
The Unibet Sportsbook was approved by the Virginia Lottery on April 21.
No March Madness
The March handle, which topped $300 million for the first time, was clearly driven by betting on the NCAA Tournament.
The Final Four was in the first week of April, but the rest of the month did not have events that bettors flock to like the Super Bowl or March Madness.
It will be interesting to see how May’s numbers look compared to April.
