The Virginia Lottery reported $63.6 million in gross 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 Ohio, which 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 betting apps, and the overall figure was 25.9% higher compared to the final month of 2022. It was also second all-time in 36 months of wagering behind November’s $638.8 million. The $5.59 billion wagered in 2023 was up 13.7% year-over-year, as the Old Dominion became the 10th state to surpass $13 billion in all-time sports betting handle since it became legal on a state-by-state basis in 2018.