Super Bowl Spurs Virginians To Bet $402M on Sports in February

Virginia reported a total sports betting handle of $402 million in February, a 51.2% increase from the $266 million the state saw wagered during the same period last year.

Bettors in the state pocketed $374 million in February, down from the $446 million bettors won the month prior, partly due to an abundance of wagers placed on Super Bowl LVI, which was played on Feb. 13. 

Virginians shelled out roughly $33 million on the Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

• In January, Virginia reported a total handle of $486 million, while revenue reached $39 million.
• Despite the drop, year-to-year comparisons are deemed better indicators of market maturity due to the sports calendar. 

Virginia legalized online sports betting in January 2021 and has since posted a total handle of $4.1 billion, generating $352 million in revenue. Tax revenue has reached $25 million.

The state has benefited from a regulation in Washington, D.C., that only permits mobile sport bets to be placed within two blocks of Capital One Arena and Nationals Park, respectively.

Virginia has placed a 15% tax on sports betting activity, which is based on each gambling operators’ adjusted gross revenue. In February, monthly tax revenue reached $1.4 million. To date, Virginia has generated roughly $23.6 million in tax revenue.

Record Breakers

New York, which permitted mobile sportsbooks to launch on Jan. 8, reported a total handle of more than $1.6 billion in its first month of legal sports betting — the single-month record for any state. The total included six sportsbooks, which posted $113 million in revenue in January.