Virginians have been allowed to legally place sports bets since April 2020. Virginia was one of several states to embrace legal sports betting in 2020 and it seems to be reaping the benefits.
It might not have the gambling history of Nevada or the population of California and New York, but its sports betting industry is quickly becoming one of the most lucrative in the United States, as these statistics show.
A summer of betting
2020 was a bit of a washout for the sports betting industry and for sports on the whole. Initially, many major events were scheduled but they were ultimately postponed due to the pandemic and resulting lockdowns. In addition, Virginia was just beginning to implement its sports betting laws and so it was a slow year on the whole.
A year later, however, that changed, and operators took over $234 million just for the month of June. Those numbers dropped in July, but this had more to do with the sports schedule than anything else. An analyst for PlayVirginia.com (a site that tracks all gambling operators in the state) noted that the lack of football fixtures was likely responsible for the downturn and wasn’t expected to last.
As we move toward the end of 2021, it seems likely that those numbers will increase and Virginia will improve upon its June 2021 numbers, but only time will tell.
Massive operators in Virginia
There are a number of major operators active within the Virginian market and while many of these won’t be familiar to US players, they are huge outside of the United States.
One such operator is Betfair Interactive, which teams up with FanDuel. Both of these brands are owned by a company known as Flutter Entertainment, which generates over $5 billion in annual revenue and is one of the biggest iGaming operators in the world.
Caesars Virginia has also teamed up with William Hill to offer gambling services. The former will be familiar to Virginians, but the latter won’t be, even though William Hill is a global brand with annual revenue of over $1.6 billion.
Needless to say, the Virginian gambling market is in very good hands and with these top brands at the helm, it’s also primed for innovation and advancement and there could be some very exciting technologies on the horizon.
Total Virginian revenue
All gambling operators in Virginia are required to pay a 15% tax on sports betting activities, as well as license fees. That may not sound like much, but the monthly taxes for June 2021 came to $1.86 million, all of which gets pumped into the state coffers.
In addition, the industry helps to stimulate the local economy and also creates new jobs for people who work within these betting companies, as well as those contracted by the regulators. It could also lead to more sponsorships and marketing, pumping even more cash into the economy.
As the industry grows and the pandemic eases, sports betting in Virginia could generate tens of millions in annual tax revenue while creating thousands of jobs.
Story by PlayVirginia.com
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