It was back in January 2021 when Virginia launched sports betting. Not unexpectedly, the interest in the activity kept increasing. Judging by recent figures released by the regulator, legal sportsbooks in Virginia hit $3.2 billion in sports betting handle during 2021.
Sportsbooks in Virginia Surpass $400M in Betting Handle in December
The Virginia Lottery released its latest report revealing details regarding sports betting activities in December 2021. Overall, residents in Virginia wagered some $426.6 million between December 1 and December 31. The result marks another good month for sports betting in the state. In fact, the sports betting handle in December came quite close to the record $427.3 million betting handle record set in October 2021. Moreover, comparing the betting handle in December to the $402.6 million in betting handle in November, a significant increase is observed.
“Between December 1 and December 31, 2021, Virginians wagered $426,596,891 (“handle”), coming in at just slightly less than $1 million behind the record-setting month of October.”
Virginia Lottery
Breakdown of the betting handle in December shows that Virginia bettors won a total of $395 million. This represents a combined 7.39% operators’ win percentage. In contrast, the gross winnings were $354.3 million a month earlier, representing an operators’ win percentage of 12.01%. In December, bonuses and promotions hit $17 million. Adding some $4.3 million in other deductions resulted in $10.1 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in December for sportsbooks in Virginia.
Undoubtedly, $3.2 billion in sports betting handle for sportsbooks in Virginia during 2021 sounds like a good result. But it is quite far when compared to New York, where mobile sportsbooks surpassed $1 billion in betting handle halfway through its first month of operation.
Virginia Collects $20 Million Taxes during 2021
Virginia currently taxes sports betting activities at 15% of operators’ AGR. Some 97.5% of the tax proceeds are directed to the state’s General Fund, while 2.5% are allocated toward Virginia’s Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund.
Based on the $10.1 million in AGR for December, Virginia’s state coffers collected some $1.7 million in taxes. From that total, $1.68 million would be allocated toward the General Fund. In contrast, only $43,228 would be allocated toward problem gambling treatment.
Overall, since the launch of sports betting in January 2021, so far, the state has collected some $20.3 million in taxes. Breakdown by the Virginia Lottery shows that $19.8 million were allocated toward the General Fund, while $508,500 boosted problem gambling treatment.