Two more VA sports betting sites should be live by the beginning of April, according to an update Wednesday from the Virginia Lottery.
Both SI Sportsbook by 888 and Betway from Digital Gaming should go live in the first quarter, Deputy Director of Gaming Compliance Gina Smith said.
Another three unidentified operators are under review, which would fill up the 12 mobile-only Virginia sports betting licenses. Temporary permits could come in the first quarter, with full approval expected in the first half of 2022.
The meeting was also the last for Executive Director Kevin Hall, whom incoming Gov. Glenn Youngkin will replace.
FanDuel still leading VA sportsbooks
The Lottery meeting came a little too early in the month for December’s sports betting totals. The update did, however, give a look at handle and promotional spending leaders through November:
| Operator | Handle through Nov. | Market Share through Nov. | Market share through Sept. | Promo spending through Nov. | Promo spending share through Nov. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel Sportsbook | $1,193,268,555 | 42.69% | 45.4% | $35,526,352 | 33.8% |
| DraftKings Sportsbook | $748,273,582 | 26.77% | 26.1% | $23,018,553 | 21.9% |
| BetMGM | $498,103,669 | 17.82% | 17.9% | $24,384,951 | 23.2% |
| Caesars Sportsbook | $235,914,420 | 8.44% | 7.6% | $14,925,272 | 14.2% |
| Barstool Sportsbook | $55,903,891 | 2.00% | 1.0% | $2,207,259 | 2.1% |
| BetRivers | $31,585,698 | 1.13% | 1.1% | $2,207,259 | 2.1% |
| WynnBET | $20,404,920 | 0.73% | 0.5% | $1,891,936 | 1.8% |
| Unibet | $11,180,778 | 0.40% | 0.4% | $735,753 | 0.7% |
| Golden Nugget | $838,558 | 0.03% | N/A | $105,108 | 0.1% |
| Totals | $2,795,194,553 | $105,107,549 |
*Handle and promo spend by operator calculated from operator percentages and total amount provided by the Virginia Lottery, and might not be exact. Bally Bet launched Nov. 24 but was zeroed out in the table. PointsBet launched in December.
Handle share was pretty stable compared to the past report. FanDuel Sportsbook took 42.7% of all the bets in Virginia through November, which fell 2.7 percentage points from September.
That dip allowed a few other sportsbooks to pick up some share:
- DraftKings Sportsbook added about 0.7 percentage points
- Caesars Sportsbook added about 0.8 percentage points
- Barstool Sportsbook added 1 percentage point
First movers still crushing Virginia market
Being a first mover has proven important for VA sportsbooks. FanDuel, for instance, launched Jan. 20, and was up and running for three days without competition until DraftKings launched Jan. 24.
It was another two days before BetMGM and BetRivers joined the market. Caesars Sportsbook then launched Feb. 3 as the last operator to go live before the Super Bowl.
Whether it was Super Bowl betting or something else that created loyalty, many of those customers apparently have not moved from the first five operators. Those five accounted for 96.85% of all handle in Virginia through November.
