Virginia smashes sports betting handle record in January

The January figure surpassed the previous record of $427.3m set in October of last year by 13.6% and was also 13.8% higher than $426.6m in December.

Virginia launched its legal sports betting market on 21 January last year, meaning full year-on-year comparisons were not possible.

Adjusted gross revenue increased 80.2% month-on-month from $10.1m in December to $18.2m but was some way behind the $31.0m record set in August.

Players won a total of $446.5m in January, while the state was able to collect $2.9m in tax from sports betting. Virginia has a 15% tax rate in place on each operator’s adjusted gross revenue.

Of the total tax collected during the month, 97.5%, or $2.8m, was allocated to the General Fund Allocation, while the remaining 2.5%, or $71,915, went to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund Allocation.

Since the market opened in January of last year, players have wagered $3.71bn on sports, with adjusted gross revenue totalling $149.1m. Consumers won a total of $3.38bn and the state generated $23.2m in tax.