FanDuel Dominating in Virginia

FanDuel is still the industry leader in mobile sports betting in Virginia. The online giant was found to be operating as usual in August. For the sixth consecutive month, operators in the state saw a 10.1% hold, indicating another strong month overall. In August, Virginia’s handle was $319 million, and operators reported over $32.4 million in gross revenue. Of that sum, the state could tax $27.9 million because of promotional credits and other deductions that came to just under $4.5 million.

A significant percentage of promotional credits and deductions started with bet365, which since its January opening has aggressively courted the betting market to become one of Virginia’s top five handle generators. It can deduct promotional credits from its gross revenue for an additional four months in order to reduce its tax obligations. It has not paid any state taxes since debut because it has been carrying over losses.

With $119.6 million in wagers accepted, FanDuel held nearly 38% of the state’s $315.6 million mobile total. With $14.8 million in gross revenue at the end, it maintained its 12.4% hold and exceeded 12% for the sixth month in a row. Additionally, FanDuel had a double-digit win rate for the fourteenth consecutive month, surpassing $500 million in total gross revenue in the Old Dominion.

DraftKings came in a clear but distant second with $94 million in handle and $7.6 million in revenue. With $79.7 million in gross winnings off a $883.3 million handle, DraftKings’ hold for the calendar year is just over 9%. Its 8.1% hold was its lowest since a 6.3% win rate reached in February.

Of the 14 mobile carriers in the state, six had a double-digit hold overall, and five generated gross revenue of at least $1 million. Both boxes were checked by BetMGM and Bet365, the former of which created a 10.4% hold to take in $3.6 million off a $35 million handle. Bet365 retained $1.8 million of the $16.6 million wagered, narrowly missing out on reporting an 11% win rate.

However, bet365’s adjusted gross income for August came to little under $378,000, or slightly over 20% of its gross income. More than $665,000 in promotional credits might be subtracted, but bet365 also had more than $600,000 in wagers that were canceled. Its overall operating losses were slightly lessened by the adjusted revenue applied to its year-long accumulated losses, which operators are permitted to roll over from month to month, bringing the negative AGR down to more than $2.8 million.

Its peak negative AGR at the end of March was close to $5 million, which is still more than half of that amount. In an effort to achieve a positive annual percentage rate (AGR) before losing the ability to count promotional deductions in January, Bet365 has reported a double-digit win rate in each of the previous five months. Although its adjusted revenue over the last five months has been slightly over $2.1 million, it has made more than $12 million in sales. Since accepting its first wagers, Bet365 has showered the Virginia betting public with promotional credits valued at around $17.6 million.

With almost $639,000 in gross income from a $5.1 million handle, BetRivers produced a 12.5% hold, the highest in a complete month of wagering in the Old Dominion. Additionally, after hitting 10.2% in July, it was the first time it had recorded monthly gains of 10% or more in Virginia in back-to-back months.

The three retail sportsbooks in Virginia had a collective hold of 12.9%, with almost $434,000 in gross wins off a $3.4 million handle. In all four of its operating months, Caesars Sports in Danville has had holds of 19% or more; August’s hold, which came in at 20.9%, allowed them to recoup over $232,000 from wagers totaling $1.1 million.

At 11.2%, Rivers Casino in Portsmouth recorded its seventh consecutive six-month win percentage, keeping close to $158,000 of the $1.4 million wagered. Hard Rock in Bristol, which reported more than $44,300 in revenue from around $840,000 worth of wagers, had a relatively moderate 5.3% hold.