October’s sports betting report in Virginia shows a robust month-over-month and year-over-year increase in the state’s handle, but due to a lower hold, revenues have dropped. The $696 million in total wagers broke the previous state record of $652.9 million set in January 2024.
October Betting Booms
October sees the arrival of the NFL and college football schedules in full swing while the NBA and NHL seasons are beginning. There is no dearth of sports in October, and Virginians wasted no time in wagering on the multitude of sporting events being offered on Old Dominion’s sportsbook’s betting menus.
The Virginia Lottery released its October numbers, and the handle was up 11.9% from September and 21.8% from October 2023. Mobile sportsbooks handled 99% of the action, or $692.2 million of the $696 million in combined wagers when including the state’s retail locations. Last October the sportsbooks reported a handle of $571 million.
Although the increase in revenues is a positive sign for the upward trajectory of the industry in Virginia, the hold (win rate) of the sportsbooks plunged, which means the bettors were sharper in October than the previous month and a year ago at the same time. This means less money for the sportsbooks and ultimately the state’s tax coffers.
The sportsbooks collected $49 million in adjusted gross revenues in October, but the 7.8% hold was a sharp decrease from the 11.2% hold a year ago and 11.5% in September. This caused the adjusted gross revenues in October 2024 to dip 13.1% from last October and fall a whopping 25.6% from September’s adjusted gross revenues of $65.9 million.
The state collected $7.3 million in taxes from October’s revenues, 97.5% of which was earmarked for Virginia’s General Fund, while the remaining 2.5% was sent to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund.
SportTrade Goes Live
Old Dominion had 11 sportsbooks, including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, Fanatics, BetRivers, Bet365, ESPN BET, Hard Rock Bet, Bally Bet, and Betr before October arrived. However, Philadelphia-based Sporttrade launched on October 24, making Virginia its fifth US sports betting market, along with New Jersey, Colorado, Iowa, and Arizona.
The platform has a unique niche in that it pits head-to-head betting and has a market in which bettors can name their own odds on a particular side or total instead of odds set by the house.
“We are incredibly proud to keep the Fall 2024 momentum going with our launch in the Commonwealth,” said Alex Kane, founder and CEO of Sporttrade. “There is an appetite for premium betting in Virginia, for significantly better prices at higher limits, for instant in-play betting, and a mobile experience that’s sleek and intuitive.
“Sporttrade is becoming the home of in-game betting, where players are able to place and cash out of bets, frictionlessly, as the probabilities shift,” added Kane. “Thank you to the Virginia Lottery, thank you to our players, partners, and investors, and most of all, I want to thank the Sporttrade family of employees.”
The company announced it had landed a strategic investment partner in SIG Sports Investments Corp. (SIGSports Analytics). The funding is being used on expanding its footprint into other markets and effecting technological advancements.
“With the U.S. sports betting industry still in its early stages, we believe there is an underserved portion of U.S. consumers hungry for a sports betting platform that prioritizes cutting-edge pricing and offers liquidity unmatched by the current regulated market,” added Joe Grubb, VP of SIGSports Analytics. “We have been impressed with what Alex and the entire Sporttrade team have built thus far and look forward to beginning to address these industry-wide challenges alongside Sporttrade.”
