Colorado, Virginia Post Positive Numbers
States with legal sports betting continue to wait for a huge jump in action once football begins. It has been a rough summer for most states with legal sports betting, but that isn’t the case for all states in every month.
While the total sports betting handle dropped in both Colorado and Virginia in July, the states were still able to post some solid numbers. Each state was able to see a jump in revenue, and that is the figure that actually matters more to the state than handle.
Both states wasted little time in becoming a competitive sports betting market, and that should continue once football cranks up again.
Colorado Sees Big Revenue Jump
Colorado is a state with both retail and online wagering, but mobile sportsbooks continue to see nearly all of the action. Mobile sportsbooks in the state had a much better month of July than in June as bettors were able to cash in on the Avalanche run to the Stanley Cup.
The total gross sports betting revenue for the month of July was nearly $21 million, and sportsbooks held over 8% of all wagers placed. The hold rate for the month of just was less than three percent, and it led to some operators losing money.
The total sports betting handle fell by more than 17%, but that was attributed to a slow sports betting calendar in June. Because of changes in the laws, Colorado was able to tax over $14 million in revenue in July, which was the third-largest amount in sports betting history.
Colorado is not putting up massive numbers when it comes to tax revenue, but the yearly total is now over the $7 million mark. The state continues to be well ahead of the pace that was set in 2021, and it should blow by those marks once sportsbooks are able to cash in on football wagering.
Virginia Cashes in On Taxes
Virginia is another state that recently made changes on how sportsbooks are able to report revenue totals, and it paid off in a big way. Sportsbooks are no longer able to take out promotional credits when reporting revenue, and it allowed the state to tax over $21 million in revenue.
It was also a perfect storm in July as sportsbooks were able to win nearly 10% of the bets for the month. The average hold rate has continued to increase throughout the United States, and Virginia followed that trend.
The total sports betting handle in the state was still just $266, which is well off of where it has been in other months. Adjusted revenue accounted for over 70% of the total gross revenue for the first time in the history of Virginia sports betting.
There are now 13 online sports betting operators in Virginia and retail betting should also start to pick up later in 2022 and into 2023.
