Consumers in Virginia wagered $265.8m on sports during February, but adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for the US state remained at a loss for a second consecutive month following high promotional spend.
Virginia opened its legal sports wagering market on January 21, with the amount bet in February being 351.3% higher than in the opening 11 days of activity.
This was helped by the National Football League’s showpiece Super Bowl event, which attracted $19.6m in bets, or 7.3% of total wagers placed in the month.
Revenue after customer winnings for the month stood at $12.2m, up 238.9% on the January period, after players won a total of $253.5m from sports betting.
However, AGR, which is defined by the Virginia Lottery as bets minus winnings and other authorized deductions – including bonuses and promotions – came in at a loss of $3.2m for February, level with the $3.2m loss posted in January.
The Virginia Lottery said this was primarily due to promotional expenses related to customer acquisition, with only one operator reporting positive AGR for the month.
As such, the state collected $300,594 in sports betting taxes, with this being split between the general fund and a specialist fund for problem gambling treatment and support.
A total off five operators were active in the state during February, including Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel in partnership with the Washington Football Team, Crown Virginia Gaming and DraftKings, Portsmouth Gaming Holdings and Rivers Casino Portsmouth, Caesars Virginia and also BetMGM.