Virginia: Sportsbooks Surpass $400M in Wagers for November 2021

Legalized in April 2020, Virginia launched its legal sports betting market in January 2021. Since the launch, sports betting monthly wagers have been continuously growing.

Sportsbooks in Virginia Surpass $400M in Wagers for Second Month in a Row

Judging by data released by the Virginia Lottery last week, November 2021 was another month when wagers surpassed $400 million. In fact, bettors in the state have wagered a total of $402,621,132 between November 1 and November 30, 2021. Compared to October 2021, we do see a small decrease in the amount wagered, considering that back then sports fans wagered $427.3 million. Still, this marks another strong month with wagers surpassing $400 million.

A breakdown of the $402.6 million shows that the gross winnings were $354.3 million. This means that in November, the operators’ win percentage was 12.01%. On the other hand, during November, bonuses and promotions hit $14.9 million. Adding some $3.4 million for other deductions resulted in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of $29,926,697 in November 2021 for sportsbooks in Virginia.

In October, the tax proceeds in Virginia hit $1.7 million. But in November, the tax proceeds significantly increased to $4.2 million. Counting the taxes since the launch of the activity, according to Virginia Lottery, sports betting has brought some $18.6 million in tax revenue so far.

The Market in Virginia Continues to Grow

Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network revealed last week that “a higher hold percentage is additional evidence that the market is maturing.” Moreover, he acknowledged that sportsbooks in the state now have more customers. Ramsey explained that “bettors are becoming more at ease with less conventional forms of betting.”

Dann Stupp, lead analyst at PlayVirginia.com added that the converging schedule of football and basketball in November created “a ripe opportunity for sportsbooks.” According to him, the results in November reveal that sports fans in Virginia are interested in more sports and not only in football. Stupp explained that the popularity of football helps sportsbooks attract new customers.

“When football and basketball seasons converge, as they did in November, the inventory of games creates a ripe opportunity for sportsbooks.”

Dann Stupp, lead analyst at PlayVirginia.com

However, according to him, basketball is also significantly important. Stupp pointed out that in major markets, basketball is “the highest-grossing sport, a product of the number of games played compared with football.” In conclusion, he explained that based on the results in November, it looks like “Virginia is following a similar pattern.”