Virginia became the latest state to report a legal sports betting slowdown in April in just its third full month of operation. Virginia has been a nice surprise with regard to their sports betting market since launch on January 21. They have quickly elevated into the top-10 on the list of bet-friendly states with no reason to think their standing as a third-tier jurisdiction is any danger.
Following the trend of the broader legal sports betting industry within the US, Virginia’s current online-only sports betting platform is further proof that the American scene needs a marquee event such as the Super Bowl, March Madness or the NFL season to once again threaten records, both in terms of monthly handle and revenues.
“April is a reminder of the seasonality of sports betting, and Virginia is not immune,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayVirginia.com. “In the U.S., there really isn’t any way to replace the popularity of the NFL or the NCAA Tournament with bettors. The seasonal slowdown should last until football season, which will almost certainly return the market to significant growth.”
Assessing April
According to a report released Friday by The Virginia Lottery, Virginia’s online sportsbooks generated $236.4 million in bets in April, which is a significant 22.2% drop from the record-$304.1 million handle in March. $7.9 million per day was spent with Virginia sportsbooks in April, down from $9.8 million in March when the NCAA Basketball tournament was gripping the nation.
Gross gaming revenues for Virginia came in at more than $19.4 million thanks to a healthy 8.22% hold. That is a 26.8% drop from the $26.6 million figure from March. Adjusted gross revenue were reported to be slightly less than $11.4 million, down 17.8% from the $13.8 million in net profits from March.
Tax revenue for state and local coffers was $1.7 million, which represents an actual 40% increase from March’s $1.18 million.
The Downward Trend
Regulators of the Virginia legal sports betting scene aren’t pushing the panic button just yet. Their percentage decline is in line with other legal sports betting jurisdictions in the country. Some had it worse than others with Virginia landing right in the middle in terms of their percentage decline.
The worst-off states were Indiana which dropped 25.4%, Iowa which saw a 26.7% dip in its April handle, and Michigan whose legal sports betting scene slumped 30.5%.
Some of the better-performing states in April included juggernaut New Jersey that saw just a 13% drop in their legal sports betting handle, Tennessee which slid 13.6%, Pennsylvania which experienced a 14.4% slide and Colorado, whose industry experienced an 18.8% skid.
A Lot to Look Forward To
Despite the threat of widespread industry slowdowns for Virginia’s legal sports betting industry, there is still a lot to look forward to. Since launch on January 21, the Virgina market has generated $865.2 million in wagers and in April came in as the sixth-highest grossing state, with Illinois still to report. The month of May will take the state’s handle over $1 billion, making it the fastest jurisdiction to reach that milestone in the US scene so far.
Virginia is poised to overtake Tennessee which took 6 months to accomplish that feat.
With the NBA and NHL playoffs taking place and ending deeper into the summer than usual, with the Olympics and Euro 2020 on the sports betting menu, the Virginia market could be poised to weather the downturn storm. The impending addition of Penn National’s Barstool-branded app should also give the market a boost.
“Virginia’s market remains in an excellent position,” said Jessica Welman. “In fact, Virginia stands should be able to avoid the worst of the typical summer swoon, which will really set the market up for a huge fall.”
Calculators
