The Virginia Lottery reported a record $638.8 million sports wagering handle for November on Friday, but operators were unable to fully capitalize on the increased action as the betting public limited them to their third-worst hold in 35 months of legal wagering.

It was the second consecutive month the Old Dominion posted a record handle, with November’s total 11.8% higher than the $571.4 million worth of accepted wagers in October and 23.1% better than last year. Virginia also became the ninth state to post a $600 million monthly handle in the post-PASPA era.

Operators reported just over $43 million in gross revenue, with all but $472,577 coming via mobile betting apps. That was down 25.3% from last November thanks to a 6.7% hold — the first below 10% in Virginia since landing under 9.2% in February and the lowest since an all-time low of 4.6% in February 2021 during the first full month of legal betting.

The state was able to levy taxes on $36.4 million in adjusted gross revenue, as operators claimed nearly $1.5 million in promotional deductions and another $5.2 million from the federal excise tax and monthly carryovers of negative AGR. The state had an inflow of $5.5 million into its coffers, as 10 operators finished with a net positive AGR in November.

Virginia has received more than $63.8 million in state taxes from sports wagering in 2023, which is running $19.1 million ahead of last year’s total heading into the final month of the year.

1 New York $2.12B
2 New Jersey $1.62B
3 Penn. $934.1M
4 Nevada $921.2M
5 Mass. $654.4M
6 VIRGINIA $638.8M
7 Michigan $584.1M
8 Maryland $550.7M
9 Tenn. $515.5M
10 Indiana $513.7M#sportsbettingtwitter #GamblingTwitter

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) December 29, 2023

The Virginia Lottery does not disclose handle and revenue information in its monthly releases, but a spokesperson confirmed that ESPN BET is not allowed to deduct its promotional credits and bonuses against its gross revenue. That is because ESPN BET is a rebrand by license-holder PENN Entertainment, whose Barstool-branded sportsbook operated in the Old Dominion for more than 12 months.

That left bet365, Betfred, and Betr as the mobile operators eligible to deduct promotional play in November, but the near-$1.5 million amount was down 48% from October’s total of close to $2.8 million. Bet365 accounted for all but $99,623 of the previous month’s total, and turning down the promotional spigot could help address its current balance of minus-$4.5 million in adjusted gross revenue.

Even if it is not able to deduct promotional play against gross revenue, ESPN BET likely made its presence known in Virginia with a heavy spend. There was a combined $43.9 million in bonuses and credits offered by ESPN BET across Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Michigan — three states that are also in the top 10 when it comes to national monthly handle rankings.

Even with the dramatic falloff in gross revenue in November, Virginia-based operators have claimed $496.6 million in gross winnings in 2023 — an increase of 15.3% versus the same period last year. Adjusted gross revenue has surged nearly 40% to $420.5 million.

The year-to-date hold on $4.96 billion handle is just over 10%, an increase of more than a quarter of a percentage point. Handle is up 12.4% compared to the first 11 months of 2022, as the Old Dominion became the ninth state to surpass $13 billion in all-time handle with November’s record action.