The Virginia Lottery reported sports betting handle totaling $416.7 million for August on Tuesday, a 30.6% year-over-year increase.
The Old Dominion also reached a pair of all-time milestones in the post-PASPA era, becoming the sixth state to reach $1.75 billion in gross operator sports betting revenue and the seventh to surpass $200 million in state tax revenue.
Sportsbook operators had a solid August, posting a 9.6% hold to claim $40.1 million in gross revenue. After promotional deductions, the federal excise tax and operator loss carryover, the state was eligible to levy its 15% tax rate on close to $35 million in adjusted gross revenue.
That resulted in an inflow of $5.2 million into Virginia coffers.
Gross revenue increased 24.1% compared to last August and declined 10.7% from July since the August win rate was nearly 2.3 percentage points lower. Adjusted revenue was up 25.4% year-over-year and down 13.3% versus July.
Handle also ticked 10.3% higher than the previous month as Virginia became the eighth state to surpass $4 billion in accepted wagers this year.
The Virginia Lottery does not disclose handle and revenue figures by operator in its monthly releases but noted 10 operators finished with positive AGR for August and were eligible to pay taxes.
Tax Coffers Swell Since Budget Amendment Introduction
Virginia's tax collections have been at a much higher percentage of revenue since the start of Fiscal Year 2023, when a budget amendment limited promotional deductions for operators to just the first 12 months of operations.
In the first 18 months of sports betting in Virginia, the state collected only $35.5 million in receipts, as the $232.6 million in adjusted gross revenue represented only 47.4% of the $490.9 million in gross operator winnings.
In the 26 months since the rule change regarding deductions, the $165.2 million in state taxes account for 82.3% of the $200.7 million in overall receipts. The state has levied taxes on $1.1 billion in AGR in that span, which is 87.6% of the $1.26 billion won by sportsbooks.
Currently, Betr is the only sportsbook eligible to deduct promotional spend, and the $6,057 reported is the lowest overall amount in state history.
Non-promotional deductions have run 24.3% higher this year at $42.7 million, but more than $2.2 million of the $8.3 million increase can be attributed to the 0.25% federal excise tax applied to handle. Wagering is up 27.5% compared to the first eight months of last year, which is nearly $886 million.
The lesser promotional revenue has contributed to year-to-date AGR up 34.2% to $378.8 million, which is outpacing both the rise in handle and the 26.1% increase in gross revenue to $423.2 million.
The $56.3 million in taxes through the first eight months of 2024 is running nearly $13.6 million ahead of last year's pace.
