The summer slump is hitting Virginia sports betting pretty hard, according to numbers published over the last few months. The state saw a pretty significant drop in bets placed from April to May, and it happened again in June. The handle for June came out to $295.2 million. It’s not a terrible number compared to some of the other states, but it’s not great for the state itself.
In May, Virginia sports betting saw a handle of $351.5 million. This means the handle for June was a $56 million drop. When comparing the June numbers of this year to the June numbers of last year, though, it looks like the Virginia sports betting industry has expanded. The state has seen a 25.7% increase year on year.
Sportsbook revenue also dropped in June when compared to May numbers. In May, sportsbook operators brought home around $42.5 million in gross revenue, while in June, they brought home only $25.9 million. The overall hold rate for operators also dropped, with an 8.7% hold seen in June, compared to the 12.1% hold the state’s operators saw in May.
This isn’t terrible news, however, as many states have seen their numbers drop throughout the summer this year. This is most likely due to the lack of large sporting events available for bets to be placed on. With the NFL and college football seasons starting up soon, most states are likely to see their sports betting numbers rise again.
A Look at the Operators
According to the numbers put out by the Virginia Lottery, Virginia sports betting operators brought in a total of $13 million as their Adjusted Gross Revenue, meaning that all promotions, bonuses, and taxes were taken out of their initial gross revenue. Compared to May’s adjusted gross revenue of $27.5 million, the state’s operators saw only half of what they did last month.
The same trend was followed for tax revenue. In taxes, June Virginia sports betting brought in $1.9 million for the state, which is less than half of what the state received from taxes in May. Some operators couldn’t even report a positive revenue after the adjustment. Only seven of Virginia’s 13 operators reported a positive adjusted gross revenue.
Virginia has a tax rate of 15% for all betting operators, which is pretty steep compared to some other sports betting states.
Virginia’s Gains and Losses
June was the first month in which Virginia felt the absence of the Golden Nugget, a sportsbook that pulled out of operations in the state last month. The Golden Nugget has merged with DraftKings. The loss probably didn’t affect the state’s sports betting handle much, though, as the operator was never able to report any tax profits for the state.
Although the state lost a sportsbook, it also gained a new one. The Bristol Casino opened for operations in June, and its handle will be included in reports starting in August. The numbers may help with the dip that the state has been seeing.
