Virginia sports betting handle reaches $513.1m in January

Bets were up by 2 per cent from December 2022’s $503m.

US.- Virginia’s sports betting handle was $513.1m in January, according to the Virginia Lottery. That’s a rise of 2 per cent compared to the $503m reported in December 2022 and a 5.7 per cent year-on-year.

Gamblers won $463.4m resulting in a combined operators’ win percentage of 9.69 per cent, down from the previous month. Bonuses and promotions totalled $768,221 while other deductions totalled $6.7m. This resulted in combined adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of $41.8m, down 11 per cent from $47m in December.

Of the 16 approved Virginia sports betting operators, ten reported positive AGR for January. The state took $6.4m in taxes, down 8.5 per cent compared to the previous month.

Virginia Senate panel kills Petersburg casino plans

The Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee voted 10-6 against House Bill 1373, proposed by delegate Kim Taylor. The bill would have allowed Petersburg voters decide in November whether to approve a $1.4bn casino resort planned by The Cordish Companies.

While House Bill 1373 had survived a vote the previous day by the Senate General Laws Committee. Senate Bill 780, an identical bill from state senator Joe Morrissey failed to advance out of the same committee.