The sports betting revenue for December on Thursday, as operators did just enough in the final month of the year to make the Old Dominion the second state with at least $5 billion handle to post a 10% hold in 2023.
The final-month revenue haul came within $390,000 of October’s all-time high that was just shy of $64 million and up 47.9% from November, when the state had a year-low 6.7% hold. Sportsbooks had a win rate narrowly above 10% on $633.2 million handle for December, which kept the hold for the full 2023 calendar year in double digits.
Only wrapped up its first year of legal betting with a hold of 12.2% on adjusted gross revenue, has a full-year win rate higher than Virginia among states with at least $5 billion worth of accepted wagers.
| State | Handle | Gross/Adjusted Revenue | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $19,196,867,490 | $1,697,297,619 (A) | 8.84% |
| New Jersey | $11,972,321,473 | $1,006,591,602 (A) | 8.41% |
| Illinois* | $10,306,518,044 | $873,847,070 (A) | 8.48% |
| Nevada | $8,261,049,368 | $481,393,000 (A) | 5.83% |
| Pennsylvania | $7,682,694,849 | $686,883,678 (G) | 8.94% |
| Ohio | $7,673,241,958 | $938,345,403 (A) | 12.23% |
| Arizona* | $5,880,489,312 | $489,718,629 (G) | 8.33% |
| Virginia | $5,590,022,862 | $560,201,502 (G) | 10.02% |
| *through November |
All but $7.7 million of the December handle came from mobile sports betting handle since it became legal on a state-by-state basis in 2018.
Tax revenue up significantly 2ia2d
The state was able to levy its 15% tax on an all-time high of $57.2 million in adjusted gross revenue. Promotional credits and bonuses in December totaled close to $1.9 million, up 29% from November, while other deductions, including the federal excise tax and loss carryover for mobile operators eligible to deduct promotional credits against gross revenue, came to more than $4.5 million.
The Virginia Lottery does not publish handle and revenue figures by operator in its monthly release, but it noted that 10 operators finished with positive AGR in December that made them eligible to pay taxes. The commonwealth collected $8.5 million in state taxes in December, and the $72.3 million for 2023 was $20.5 million more than 2022.
The state levied taxes on more than 85% of gross operator revenue in 2023, an increase of 18%. Adjusted gross revenue in 2023 totaled $477.7 million, up 37.2% from 2022.
Gross operator revenue for 2023 was up 16.4% to $560.2 million, as the 10.02% hold was nearly one-quarter of a percentage point higher than the previous year. Operators had a hold of 10% or higher on gross revenue in nine of 12 months in 2023, falling short in February, and November.
Of those three instances, the 6.7% win rate in November was the only one to fall short of the 7% industry standard, as the hold in both January and February topped 9%.
