VA Sports Betting Revenue Down Despite $266M Handle In February

• The sports betting industry in Virginia has posted another negative month for February with over $3 million in the red.
• Although the Commonwealth saw a loss, handle was at a record high at $265.8 million for the month.
• Over 7.3% of wagers came from Super Bowl betting by Virginia sports bettors.

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia had its first full month of mobile sports betting in the Commonwealth for February and saw a record handle of $265.8 million, the Virginia Lottery reported on Thursday.

The Old Dominion residents chose to regulate sportsbooks by a majority vote in November 2020 and had five platforms open for wagers since the market’s launch on January 21. While doing well in the eleven days they were live in January, they managed to post negative profits. The same thing is being seen for February with the same reasonings behind it.

February Sports Betting In Virginia

Virginia has BetMGM, BetRivers, DraftKings, FanDuel, and William Hill mobile sportsbooks that contributed to their February numbers. Over 7% of the handle was made through Super Bowl betting. From February 1 through February 28, $265.8 million was wagered with $19,559,701 of that being Super Bowl related.

Payouts from Virginia sports betting activity for the month totaled $253,539,526 from the posted handle. But just like in January, despite the large handle through fan activities, the industry was still posting in the minus column for revenue for the month because of the number of promotions that were advertised to attract new customers to use their platforms.

The Virginia Lottery posted that one unnamed operator out of the five was able to turn a profit of $300,594 for the month but as a combined total from all platforms in the Commonwealth,February had a loss of $3,231,752. This is almost as much as they lost for the regulated sports betting market of Virginia in January.

The Outlook For The Virginia Sports Betting Industry

In the January and February records, the sports gaming industry has lost over $6 million in revenue from promotions and payouts. As the industry and operators become more popular, the promotional costs will even out for revenue profits to begin to see a climb. More mobile sportsbook applications will begin to open in Virginia which will lead to a more competitive and profitable market, especially after Governor Ralph Northam just expanded the cap for mobile operators in Virginia.

On top of that, once construction is done on the retail sports betting venues in the state, the trajectory of the regulated sports betting industry will climb that much further. March Madness should see a high handle and maybe some real revenue with two more sportsbooks licensed to take bets in March but the real turnaround for Virginia and a profitable market should happen by NFL season when more apps and even land-based locations will be a part of the gambling on sports package offered in the Old Dominion.

News tags: BetMGM | BetRivers | DraftKings | FanDuel | March Madness | NFL | Ralph Northam | Super Bowl | Virginia | Virginia Lottery | William Hill