A nearly $500m sports handle: Virginia reaches new heights
A strong January helped by the extended NFL season.
The state of Virginia, with a sterling January performance after five weekends of football, managed to get 2022 off to a robust start: altogether sportsbooks were able to handle nearly $500m in bets.
This topped a previous record by 13%.
The final numbers should bring comfort to the state’s sportsbook operators: according to the Virginia Lottery, $485.5m in wagers exceeded the previous record of $427.3m, which had been set last October.
In terms of month-over-month growth, January’s figure was 13.8% higher than that of December (when it reached $426.6m). The month’s average daily wager was $15.7m, up from the $13.8m in daily wagers of the month prior.
In terms of gross revenue, sportsbooks saw $39.1m. This was the second highest of all time and an improvement on the $31.5m taken in in December. Among the expenditures going against this revenue were $16.9m in promotional spending.
There were also $4m in deductions, meaning $18.2m in taxable revenue which yielded $2.9m in state taxes.
The good numbers were indicative of a growing betting culture in Virginia combined with a newly-extended NFL season that saw games happen across every weekend in the month. While numbers driven by football are now due to subside some, the NBA – which has been a huge draw for bettors – as well as March Madness – one of the biggest betting events of the year – are both going strong or on the horizon. This a harbinger of more good things for the state.
Since launching on January 21, 2021, betting volume in the Old Dominion more than doubled, from $58.9m in the first month of last year to where it stands today.
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