Virginia continued to welcome a European invasion of sorts with the arrival of bet365 Virginia sportsbook on Tuesday.
The company made its Virginia launch “internet official” when it tweeted out its arrival announcement.
It’s the third consecutive sportsbook with European ties to go live in Virginia. The state now has 15 live online sportsbooks with bet365 VA‘s arrival. Since last spring:
- Betway took its first bet on May 17. Malta houses the company headquarters.
- Betfred just announced its arrival on Wednesday, but it quietly began taking Virginia bets on Dec. 19. They’re based in Warrington, UK.
- The bet365 Sportbook, based out of Stoke-on-Trent, UK, used Jan. 31 to announce its arrival in the Virginia market.
Even though the sportsbooks are based in Europe, they’ve all established US hubs as well. The state also has policies in place to make sure new sportsbooks are legal and safe, no matter where their headquarters are.
Hillside (Virginia), LLC received the Virginia sports betting license on behalf of bet365 Sportsbook Virginia. The online sportsbook is live in New Jersey, Colorado and Ohio as well.
Bet365 needs its international clout to break through
The bet365 Sportsbook history dates back to 2000 when the company started with just 12 employees. It now considers itself “the world’s favorite gambling brand” with more than 80 million customers.
Bet365 has 11 international gaming licenses but the sportsbook is still reasonably new in the US.
It will be tough for bet365 Virginia — or any new sportsbook — to break into the Virginia sports betting market. The Virginia Lottery releases a market share report each quarter and three sportsbooks tend to dominate the landscape. Through November:
- FanDuel VA is the state’s leading operator with about 41% of the state’s sports bets in 2022.
- DraftKings VA controls the No. 2 spot, with about 23% of the market.
- BetMGM VA keeps pace with DK. It controls about 18% of the market in Virginia.
Combined, the state’s “big three” accounted for about 82% of the sports betting market through November. Once Caesars Sportsbook (8%) and Barstool Sportsbook (4%) are factored in, the state’s remaining eight sportsbooks fight for about 6% of the state’s sports bets through almost all of 2022.
Could a bet365 Virginia online casino be next?
Bet365 isn’t just a sportsbook. The company offers bet365 Casino, bet365 Live Casino, bet365 Games, bet365 Poker and bet365 Bingo as well.
From a policy standpoint, Virginia customers won’t see those additional products anytime soon. The Virginia casino industry is still a new one, and online casino is likely years away.
Other states share Virginia’s current reluctance about online casino games. But, according to the American Gaming Association:
- Americans bet more than $510 billion a year with illegal and unregulated operators.
- The legal gaming industry loses $44.2 billion in revenue.
- In turn, state governments lose about $13.3 billion in lost tax revenue.
