Virginia Sports Bets Increasing Steadily

By Matt Speakman,
Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

Matt Speakman Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

A die-hard fan of the Patriots, Matt Speakman is an expert on everything related to sports betting and DFS sites. Over the years, he has proven a valuable asset for our team at online-gambling.com. You can find Speakman's professional tips and tricks in any of his many articles on the website.

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Last updated: May 1, 2024

The state of Virginia has seen growth in its sports betting market, particularly in the month of March. Data was recently revealed for this month of betting, which shows wagers rising 24.2% in year-on-year comparisons. The total amount bet by Virginians in this time was $635.5 million.

How to read Virginia’s betting figures

It is helpful to know that the state of Virginia operates sports betting via the Virginia Lottery. Therefore, it is the Lottery that discloses revenue information as in the case of the most recent report on sports betting in the state.

The Lottery tracks revenue and oversees betting, which takes place through several channels. Mainly, sports betting is offered in Virginia through both casinos as well as mobile/web-based operators.

This balance means that Virginians have the opportunity to bet in person at brick-and-mortar kiosks as well as online: the choice is up to them, which likely means more betting takes place as customers have an ample amount of options for betting comfortably.

A breakdown of betting in Virginia in March 2024

In March 2024, mobile operators saw gross revenue of $629.7 million. This accounts for the vast majority of bets placed in the state. It also was an increase from what mobile operators took in during March 2023, one year previous.

Gross winnings, on the other hand, also increased during this month for a total of $582.5 million.

One interesting change seen in March 2024 is that operators did not offer as many bonuses and promotions. There is a clear and sensible reason for this shift, which saw $3.8 million in offerings in March 2023 decrease to a meager $13,000 in March 2024.

The reason is that for the first year of operations, operators are allowed to deduct play that took place via promotions. As Virginia’s sports betting market burgeoned and the companies hoped to attract new players, a great deal of promotional offers and bonuses were used in order to attract new customers.

However, without a significant deduction, that level of promotion is simply not feasible for many of these operators. Based on these stats alone, it appears that all mobile operators have significantly curtailed bonus offers.

One might worry that this change would also bring about a negative change in overall revenue or handle, as customers find betting in the state less novel and exciting, or that customers might shirk operators that offer no discernible promotions.

Looking at the figures from March, it is clear that this has not been the case at all. Rather, the opposite has been true has both handle and revenue have increased. One explanation could be that more than a year in, the sports betting market in Virginia is now firmly established.

Bettors have found platforms they enjoy playing on and will continue using them, not for promotions but because they enjoy betting. Furthermore, as the visibility of sports betting in VA has increased and the market has become normalized, perhaps more and more fans are attracted to trying it out for themselves.