Virginia Becomes Fastest State To Reach $2B In Sports Betting Handle

Written By Dann Stupp on December 1, 2021
Virginia sports betting for October 2021

October 2021 proved to be a record-setting month for Virginia sports betting operators. And in more ways than one.

Virginia shattered its own monthly record for sports betting handle. The commonwealth also became the fastest US state to reach $2 billion in total sports wagers.

The Virginia Lottery, which oversees sports betting in VA, on Wednesday released its latest monthly report for sports betting revenue.

Bolstered by five weekends of NFL and NCAA football, as well as other key sports events, Virginia tallied $427.3 million in sports bets in October 2021. That’s a 45% month-over-month increase.

October 2021 a record-breaker for VA sportsbooks

The VA sports-betting market launched on Jan. 21 when FanDuel was first to debut. By early March, six operators had launched for the start of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Boosted by that March Madness betting, Virginia bettors had set a record that month with $304.1 million in wagers.

After the traditionally slow summer months, the VA sports betting market began to rebound with the return of football and the launch of additional operators this fall. Virginia sports bettors wagered $182.4 million in August and then $293.9 million in September, putting the lifetime Virginia total at $1.97 billion at the time.

Now, with the final October 2021 numbers available, that March record has finally fallen. In fact, October’s official total of $427,320,306.07 broke March’s since-fallen record by a staggering 39%, or $125 million.

MonthHandleAGRHold %PromosOther deductionsAGR
June 2024$415,360,427$45,490,74910.9$10,956$5,007,357$40,472,436
May 2024$505,594,450$59,966,99911.8%$11,705$6,022,600$53,932,694
April 2024$563,495,540$60,438,98910.7%$11,185$5,908,786$54,629,226
March 2024$635,593,137$47,152,1207.5%$12,973$5,182,715$42,435,808
February 2024$545,068,429$49,715,7249.2%$20,981$5,529,773$44,454,418
January 2024$652,879,750$73,402,93911.4%$1,675,956$5,099,228$67,507,323
December 2023$633,181,758$62,635,70810.0%$1,877,436$4,486,382$57,187,962
November 2023$638,831,057$42,530,6686.7%$1,454,896$5,100,909$36,354,936
October 2023$571,354,817$63,996,95211.2%$2,798,787$4,834,082$56,364,083
September 2023$520,304,187$54,081,41410.4%$3,684,887$4,780,308$45,616,219
August 2023$319,005,942$32,359,88810.1%$743,076$3,711,669$27,905,144
July 2023$293,611,789$32,471,39611.1%$827,332$3,433,137$28,210,927
June 2023$325,455,052$32,668,02410.0%$1,318,014$4,915,680$26,434,330
May 2023$403,719,160$48,144,55011.9%$1,781,519$3,815,651$42,547,380
April 2023$425,982,859$45,121,87810.6%$1,941,696$4,247,815$38,932,367
March 2023$511,614,541$55,258,91010.8%$3,802,388$3,805,159$47,651,362
February 2023$433,807,108$39,766,9089.2%$7,789,446$3,592,213$28,385,249
January 2023$510,982,033$49,393,8129.7%$768,221$6,782,949$41,842,641
December 2022$503,075,150$50,687,27810.1%$567,709$3,099,072$47,020,497
November 2022$518,818,987$57,531,25511.1%$817,857$3,887,949$52,825,450
October 2022$528,029,938$51,164,1999.7%$963,187$4,668,013$45,532,999
September 2022$411,273,323$53,821,38213.1%$1,706,116$3,722,575$48,392,691
August 2022$284,671,331$36,978,89713.0%$1,140,242$4,395,696$31,442,959
July 2022$266,001,583$26,024,4089.8%$396,903$4,228,729$21,398,776
June 2022$295,235,271$25,965,1828.8%$7,834,123$5,146,174$12,984,884
May 2022$351,452,931$42,537,52412.1%$9,967,230$5,045,967$27,524,327
April 2022$399,478,366$36,275,2649.1%$11,253,534$4,260,348$20,761,381
March 2022$469,484,017$33,700,0167.2%$14,104,925$5,270,649$14,324,441
February 2022$401,889,135$27,498,1336.8%$15,816,234$3,797,649$7,884,250
January 2022$485,544,417$39,050,0678.0%$16,850,981$3,978,519$18,220,567
December 2021$426,596,891$31,515,0157.4%$17,051,709$4,339,908$10,123,398
November 2021$402,621,132$48,337,03712%$14,993,073$3,417,267$29,926,697
October 2021$427,320,306$30,160,3857.1%$15,805,261$4,569,424$9,785,700
September 2021$293,851,531$30,929,24410.5%$17,422,068$3,172,781$10,334,395
August 2021$182,418,252$17,967,4279.8%$6,868,639$2,410,724$8,688,064
July 2021$161,901,955$19,913,94112.3%$4,375,872$2,898,664$12,691,020
June 2021$234,943,435$22,006,2979.4%$4,983,544$2,125,855$14,896,898
May 2021$226,963,573$23,150,28410.2%$5,168,732$2,341,616$15,663,201
April 2021$236,432,523$19,442,3178.2%$5,529,294$2,532,886$11,380,137
March 2021$304,066,245$26,573,8778.7%$10,340,533$2,388,332$13,845,012
February 2021$265,778,306$18,702,2847.0%$13,187,560$2,282,972$3,231,752
January 2021$58,896,564$10,057,30117.1%$6,343,077$478,612$3,235,612
Total$17,042,587,198$1,674,586,64210.0%$234,019,857$170,716,794$1,272,979,613

As a quirk of the 2021 calendar, the month of October offered five full weeks of football betting. Additionally, October benefited from the 2021 World Series and the start of the 2021-22 NHL and NBA seasons.

Overall, October’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) slipped 2.5% to $30.2 million from the record $30.9 million in September 2021. After sportsbooks spent $15.8 million in promotions, the taxable revenue was $9.8 million, which yielded $1.7 million in state taxes.

The total operators’ hold was 7.1% for October 2021.

Virginia eclipses New Jersey in race to $2B

With $2,392,572,691 in total wagers from Jan. 21 through Oct. 31, Virginia reached the $2 billion mark faster than any other state.

It took Old Dominion a little less than nine months to reach the milestone. The previous record-holder, New Jersey, took about 10 months to reach $2 billion in wagers.

NJ launched legal sports betting in June 2018. That was shortly after the US Supreme Court famously struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

Since then, NJ has become the king of US sports betting. To date, New Jersey sports bettors have tallied nearly $20 billion in wagers.

NJ also recently became the first US state to reach $1 billion in wagers in a single month. Virginia is unlikely to break that record anytime soon. However, by beating New Jersey to the $2 billion milestone, the commonwealth is certainly in good company.

Photo by AP / Nick Wass
Dann Stupp Avatar
Written by
Dann Stupp

Dann Stupp is a longtime sports journalist who’s written and edited for The Athletic, USA Today, ESPN, MLB.com and other outlets. He lives in Lexington, Virginia.

View all posts by Dann Stupp