Virginia sportsbooks post state-record 13% hold in August, on handle of $285M

It was the sixth time in 20 months of wagering the sportsbooks’ win rate reached double figures, with the previous record of 12.3% set in July 2021. It was also the second time in four months the hold exceeded 12% after the house posted a 12.1% win rate in May.

The $284.7 million handle for August was also enough to make the Old Dominion the ninth state to surpass $6 billion in total handle in the post-PASPA era joining New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Indiana, Colorado, and Michigan. Virginia is also less than $47 million shy of clearing $3 billion in wagers accepted for the calendar year.

Operator gross revenue totaled $37 million, the fourth-highest total overall and third best this year behind May ($42.5 million) and January ($39.1 million). The change in limiting operator deductions for promotional play contributed to a record adjusted revenue total of $31.4 million — the first time that figure surpassed $30 million in state history.

The state was able to collect $4.5 million in tax receipts for August, raising the total for the calendar year to more than $22.7 million. That is more than double the $11.1 million collected through the first eight months of last year as every key metric compared to 2021 is notably higher. The Virginia Lottery does not disclose handle and revenue figures by operator but noted nine of the 13 operators finished August with net positive adjusted revenue eligible for taxation. Deductions outside of promotional credits totaled nearly $4.4 million, slightly higher than July, and have reached more than $36.1 million for 2022 compared to nearly $33 million for all of 2021.

Promotional credits were notably higher in August than July, but the $1.1 million awarded by operators was still the second-lowest total overall. There is a strong likelihood the August national win rate will be the first above 10% since October 2019, when only 12 states conducted commercial wagering. Seventeen of the 22 states that have published August figures have reported a double-digit win rate, and the current national hold of 10.8% on gross revenue is tracking to be the second highest in 51 months of wagering in the post-PASPA era. Operators have amassed $395.2 million in gross revenue from close to $3.7 billion handle in August.

There is still a chance it could finish below 10%, as three of the four states yet to report are large markets: Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona. Despite being the most recent state to launch among the trio, Arizona already has reported three monthly holds of 10% or more in its first 11 months of business. Colorado’s lone double-digit hold came in its first month activity in May 2020 — and just barely at 10% — while the more recent of the two occurrences in 27 months of wagering in Illinois took place last November when the hold was 10.2%. Previously, that percentage never surpassed 70%.

Handle was up 7% compared to July’s total of $266 million and was 56.1% higher versus August of last year. The adjusted win rate of 11.1% for August marked the first time that hold reached double figures, with the previous high of 8% set only last month. Both gross and adjusted revenue were more than double that of August 2021 thanks to the substantial increases in both handle and win rates. The $7.5 million in taxes collected the last two months is 17.2% of the state’s all-time total of $43.1 million.

by Chris Altruda