Numerous U.S. states spent months preparing for an expected mid-2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would allow any state to offer Las Vegas-style sports betting. Virginia was not close to being one of them. The state didn’t even authorize having casinos, much less sports betting, until 2020. Some of the state’s limits on legal sports wagering now reflects a state culture that traditionally was not very gambling-minded beyond the traditional forms such as the lottery or horse racing.
Virginia Sports Betting Overview
Best Online Sportsbooks in Virginia
According to gaming industry experts, FanDuel has held a consistent lead over archrival DraftKings in Virginia, with only BetMGM sometimes also gaining a double-digit market share.
DraftKings does have at least one edge, however. While both daily fantasy sports giants offer Virginians who are new signups a similar offer – make a $5 bet, and if it wins, you get $300 in free bets. But only DraftKings also offers $300 worth of NBA League Pass.
BetMGM’s offer is lesser – make a $1 bet, and if it wins you get $150 in free bets.
Complete List of Online & Retail Betting Sites in Virginia
There are over 10 online sportsbooks and three retail sportsbooks in Virginia.
Online Sportsbooks and Official Launch Dates
- FanDuel – Jan. 21, 2021
- DraftKings – Jan. 24, 2021
- BetMGM – Jan. 27, 2021
- BetRivers – Jan. 27, 2021
- Caesars – Feb. 3, 2021 (initially under the William Hill brand)
- Bally Bet – Nov. 24, 2021
- Hard Rock – March 31, 2022
- Fanatics – Nov. 21, 2023
- Betr – Sept. 6, 2023
- ESPN Bet – Nov. 14, 2023
- Sporttrade – Oct. 23, 2024
Retail Sportsbooks and Official Launch Dates
- Hard Rock Casino (Bristol) – July 8, 2022
- BetRivers at Swinomish Casino & Lodge – Jan. 23, 2023
- Caesars (Danville) – Dec. 17, 2024
Recommended sportsbooks
What You Can Legally Wager On in the The Old Dominion State
Virginia, does not allow for individual prop betting on any college athletes. It also is one of the few states that does not any wagers on sporting events involving any in-state college team. No legal bets on The Academy Awards, Emmys, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, NFL draft – basically, any betting platform that would not involve direct athletic competition on a field, court, or diamond.
All of the most popular sports are allowed for wagers, however, so the somewhat conservative approach by state regulators might not even be noticed except by the most exotic-minded of bettors.
Official Sports Teams
While it is not one of the smallest U.S. states, there are no professional sports franchises in the traditional major sports located within the state.
That said, there is a major team playing just over the border in each case. For instance, the Washington Commanders – once known as the Redskins – play their home games in Landover, Md. The NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and MLB’s Washington Nationals all play in Washington, D.C. and enjoy widespread support among Virginia-based sports fans.
The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech are the two top college football programs, but James Madison, Liberty, and Old Dominion also play at the NCAA’s highest level. The other universities with Division I basketball programs are George Mason, Hampton, Longwood, Norfolk State, Radford, Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Military Institute, and William & Mary.
Betting on Sports in Virginia vs Neighboring States
Even with a relatively late start to sports betting, Virginia leads its five neighboring states with a betting handle of $24.7 billion entering the fall 2025 college and professional football seasons. Tennessee was next at $19.9 billion, followed by Maryland ($15.5 billion), North Carolina ($9.7 billion), Kentucky ($5.1 billion), and West Virginia ($3.1 billion).
Timeline of Legalization of Sports Betting in Virginia
A state that had opposed casinos for so long changed dramatically in 2019-2020, moving swiftly on parallel tracks to approve casino licenses (subject to community voting approval) and also mobile sports betting. The processes have played out fairly smoothly, with legislative consensus that Virginia not be too “cutting edge” in what sorts of wagers can be placed.
2020
- March 8, 2020 – The state’s two chambers of government each passed ambitious bills in a special Sunday session – and only after extensive compromises – that would legalize casinos in the state as well as sports betting.
- April 22, 2020 – Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed the combined bills into law after first making a few amendments impacting costs to the prospective sportsbooks.
- Sept. 15, 2020 – The new gambling law set this date for regulators at the Virginia Lottery to have final sports betting rules in place.
2021
- Jan. 21, 2021 – FanDuel became the first mobile sportsbook in the state, with four rivals launching within the next two weeks of FanDuel’s debut.
- April 1, 2021 – The Virginia Lottery announced that the state’s sportsbooks had a collective $265.8 million betting handle in February – a national record for a state in its first full month of betting activity and a reflection of the amount of pent-up demand for such gambling existed in the state.
2022-2024
- July 8, 2022 – Hard Rock launched a temporary casino in Bristol that included the state’s first retail sportsbook – as well as being the first Virginia casino property.
- July 31, 2024 – Betway announced it was shutting down its sportsbook in Virginia.
- Oct. 10, 2024 – Betfred also ceased its betting operation in the state, dropping the number of authorized mobile sportsbooks to 12.
2025
- Oct. 30, 2025 – In the wake of a scandal involving several current and former NBA players, Virginia Lottery officials met to begin consideration of extending its ban on individual prop betting for college athletes to some professional sports as well.
Virginia’s Sports Betting Revenue and Handle
Virginia is the 12th-largest U.S. state at a population of 8.8 million residents, and it ranks 8th in all-time betting handle through August 2025. The state ranks ahead of Michigan in spite of having more than 1 million fewer people. By several metrics, Virginians sometimes rank in the top 10 in the U.S. in annual betting handle per capita.
Official Team and Sportsbook Partnerships
There are a handful of partnerships between sportsbooks and in-state teams:
- Washington Commanders x Fanatics
- Washington Wizards x ESPN Bet
- Washington Capitals x ESPN Bet
- Washington Nationals x BetMGM
Licensing & Oversight
As was the case in neighboring Tennessee, Virginia authorized sports betting in the state without having regulators with decades of casino oversight experience. The Virginia Lottery was tasked in 2020 with handling sports betting issues as well as several new casinos coming into existence starting in 2022.
The lottery was formed back in 1987, and now also oversees the state’s daily fantasy sportsbook operators.
Responsible Gaming in VA
The Virginia Council on Problem Gambling is a non-profit organization that seeks to increase public awareness of the issue, to ensure the widespread availability of treatment for such gamblers and their families, and to encourage research and programs for treatment and education.
The council ascribes to the definition set forth by the American Psychiatric Association: “The symptoms include increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, ‘chasing’ losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting negative consequences. In extreme cases, problem gambling can result in financial ruin, legal problems, loss of career and family, or even suicide.”
“Gambling is considered an addictive disorder in which the ‘Three C’s’ are present: crave, continue behavior, lose control. In this regard, gambling is very similar to substance use disorder – a behavioral addiction that has similar symptoms as other addictions.”
Those who might need help can call the Virginia Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-800-GAMBLER (426-2537) or 888-532-3500.
The state’s self-exclusion program prevents those who sign up from participating in casino gaming, account-based Virginia Lottery games, online sports betting, charitable gaming (raffle, bingo, network bingo and instant bingo), and betting on horse racing. The self-exclusion period options are two years, five years – or for life.
Should You Bet in Virginia?
- NFL Washington Commanders showing improvement
- Exciting times in NHL with star player Ovechkin
- Can’t legally bet on NCAA college football nor basketball
- No individual college prop bets
Top Reasons to Bet
- After more than a quarter-century of failure, the NFL’s Washington Commanders turned it around in 2024 and reached their conference’s championship game. The team struggled in the first half of 2025, but second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels looks like the franchise’s best such player in about 50 years.
- The NHL’s Washington Capitals won their lone Stanley Cup in the 2017-18 season and have missed the playoffs only once since then. Perhaps even more importantly, the Capitals have Alex Ovechkin, the most prolific goal scorer in NHL history. With hints that this could be his last season, Virginia residents may well pay special attention with both their hearts and wallets in watching the 40-year-old in the twilight of a magnificent career.
Top Reasons Not to Bet
- The University of Virginia football team entered November ranked 15th with a 7-1 record and dreams of muscling into the NCAA college football playoff for the first time. Cavaliers fans who have been riding the money line on their team were treated to one nail-biting win after another. One problem: such fans either made the wagers on illegal offshore untaxed sites, or they traveled across the state line to a nearby jurisdiction that does allow for such a wager.
- The Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team has an even more successful track record – including a national championship in 2019, a time when more than a dozen states already had legalized sports wagering. But again, state residents were shut out of the “fun.”
- The lack of any individual college prop bets at all and no wagering on events like the Academy Awards or the NFL draft aren’t as costly to the state, but a modest number of gamblers no doubt are disappointed.
Try these top betting bonuses
Final Thoughts on Sports Betting in Virginia
The only states with a larger all-time betting handle than Virginia that ban all in-state college betting are New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. But there are no perennial NCAA football powers in the first two states, and neither state has a consistently successful men’s basketball program, either.
Illinois is on par with Virginia in terms of multiple universities sometimes making noise on a national stage of either sport, but their top tax rate of 40% is more than double that of Virginia’s 15%.Result? Illinois is taken in triple the sports betting tax revenue of Virginia.
There have been some preliminary efforts in the Virginia statehouse to end the in-state college betting ban, but nothing concrete yet. Advocates will need to get across to resistant lawmakers the point that betting on Illinois college teams already has been going on for decades in the illegal wagering markets and is not about to stop – the modern version of this being mobile, offshore sportsbooks.
If the federal government somehow ever comes up with a way to mostly eliminate the hundreds of billions of dollars wagered annually on illegal websites in the U.S., then the ban on legally betting on Illinois college teams might make sense. But until then, Virginia’s law is driving numerous gamblers – some of them young adult college students – onto the untaxed, unregulated markets.
FAQ: Virginia Sports Betting
Is sports betting legal in Virginia?
Yep. Right now, both online and retail sports betting are fully regulated.
How old must I be to bet in Virginia legally?
The state has a minimum betting age of 21, and all wagers must be placed while you’re physically present within state lines.
Which sports betting sites are best in Virginia?
In Virginia, sports betting sites aren’t at all hard to find, with 14 available options in total at the time of writing. That said, BetMGM, Caesars, FanDuel, and Fanatics are currently ranked best in my book. Particularly if you value coverage of top leagues, and super competitive promotions.
What taxes do sports betting operators pay in VA?
At the time of writing, Virginia imposes a 15% tax on all annual gross revenue (AGR).
Are online casinos legal in VA?
No, online casinos remain strictly off limits for now. Although recent efforts by legislators suggest there’s a slim chance this may change in the years ahead.
Related Posts
