Virginia’s state sportsbooks have broken its sales record in October, revealing a monthly handle of $427m.
Aided by the beginning of the NBA season and baseball postseason, the month’s activity officially made Virginia the quickest state in US history to reach $2bn in lifetime wagers.
“With a calendar that included an extra weekend of NFL and college football, the opening of the NBA and NHL seasons, and baseball’s postseason, October was the best opportunity so far for Virginia sportsbooks and the results did not disappoint,” said Dann Stupp, lead analyst for PlayVirginia.com.
“A strong start to the football season shows a maturing market with an increasing number of operators launching and a base of bettors that are increasingly comfortable with online sports betting.”
According to data released by the Virginia Lottery, the state’s online sportsbooks generated $427.3m in bets in October, easily topping the previous record of $304.1m reached in March.
The state handle was up 45.4% from $293.9m in September as volume rose to $13.8m per day over the 31 days of October from $9.8m in September.
Several states broke sales records during October, largely catalyzed by the five weekends of sporting action. However, local sporting success had a part to play, according to Play Virginia. The Baltimore Ravens have enjoyed a successful NFL season and the Washington Football Team has remained in the playoff race, boosting local interest.
“It’s hard to imagine a better start for Virginia’s sports betting industry,” added Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayVirginia.com.
“The brisk action over the last two months is raising the bar for the entire market, too. Not only are more Virginians betting, but they are expanding their interest in less conventional wagers such as in-game betting.”
