Virginians Still Setting Sports Betting Records in 2025, Casinos Following Suit
With $7.66 billion in sports bets placed in calendar year 2025, Virginia residents (and visitors) demonstrated once again that their appetite for such legal gambling continues to grow.
That figure was up almost 11% above the $6.93 billion in sports bets in 2024, which well exceeded the $5.59 billion wagered in 2023 and the $4.92 billion in bets from 2022 - the first full year of legal, regulated sports betting in the state.
The "hold" percentage - the amount pocketed by the state's dozen sportsbooks after paying out winning bets - hovered at almost exactly 10% in 2022, 2023, and 2024. But the sportsbooks enjoyed a slightly more lucrative 11.1% hold rate in 2025.
The monthly hold actually was above that overall percentage in eight out of 12 months. But "March Madness" - the month when the annual men's college basketball championship tournament is played, with the bulk of bets placed on those games - resulted in a mere 7.3% hold rate.
November proved to be the most rewarding month for those sportsbooks, with a state-record $99 million in winnings off a 12.4% hold rate.
While no month has yet conquered the $100 million milestone in one month of revenue, Virginia took in $118 million in taxes in 2025 - well ahead of the $91.7 million collected in 2024.
Virginia features a fairly typical 15% tax rate, with 2.5% going to the state's problem gambling fund and the rest going into the General Fund.
Betting on college sporting events played by Virginia-based schools is prohibited, and the state is unlike many others in that it also does not allow wagers on the NBA or NFL drafts, the college football Heisman Trophy winner, the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player, The Academy Awards, the Emmys, and other similar competition.
Casino industry continues to grow in Virginia
While a majority of U.S. states authorized the opening of casinos at least two decades ago, Virginians historically had a reluctance to follow suit.
That finally changed a few years ago, with the first full-fledged casino in the state - Rivers Casino Portsmouth near the North Carolina border - opening in early 2023. The Caesars Virginia casino in Danville (also near the North Carolina border) and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol (just north of the Tennessee state line) then launched their permanent facilities in 2024.
The Live! Casino Virginia in Petersburg's temporary facility opened in late January 2026, and a permanent casino in Norfolk is scheduled to open in late 2027.
The original law also allowed for a casino in Richmond - the state capital - pending local approval. But residents there firmly rejected the idea in 2021 and again in 2023, and that resulted in the state transferring the casino license to Petersburg.
The Hard Rock property - the only one in the state that is open 24 hours a day - features more than 1,400 gaming machines and 300 hotel rooms. The numbers for the Caesars casino are similar, while the Portsmouth site only has about 100 hotel rooms.
The three casinos collectively reported between $80 million and $90 million in earnings in each of the last three months of 2025. The $969 million in combined revenue for the year was up more than 30% from 2024, with similar or even larger increases likely in 2026 as the industry continues to mature.
While a legislative effort to legalize iGaming failed in Virginia in 2025, the same bill was reintroduced in both chambers in the first week of 2026. Abigail Spanberger, who was just elected Governor in November 2025, has indicated that her first focus on the industry overall would be the establishment of a Virginia Gaming Commission.
That means that online casino play, even if approved by state lawmakers, may not meet with the Governor’s approval this year.
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