Virginia Online Sports Betting

Virginia’s Gambling Laws turned upside down in April 2020 when a new gambling expansion that allowed for casinos, retail sportsbooks and online sports betting. After becoming law on July 1, 2020, the Virginia Lottery Board has been put in charge of the new sports betting industry, and legal sports betting, beginning with many of the leading brands of NJ online sports betting sites going live in Virginia in January 2021. The first retail sportsbook began operations in July 2022 with more on the way in the coming months.

Virginia allows gamblers land-based and online sports betting, recently legalized bricks-and-mortar casinos, legal DFS competitions, a state lottery, online and off-track horse racing betting, some limited charitable gambling options and a home poker carve out under the law.

There is a 4% state tax on gambling winnings in Virginia.

However, gambling wins over a $600 amount in Virginia may possibly attract an additional Federal Tax.

We recommend contacting your tax attorney to assess your potential Federal tax liability if you have a big win in the state of Virginia.

Virginia maintains a liberal and easy to manage 18-years-of-age age limit on most of its legal forms of gambling, others than casinos and sportsbooks which are set at 21.

The State of Virginia legalized online and land-based sports betting in April 2020 with the successful passage into law of the State Bill SB 384.

Virginia’s new sports betting law allows for up to 12 standalone online sportsbooks along with allowing the state’s newly legalized casinos, professional sports venues (much like the Colorado law) and Virginia’s two NASCAR racetracks to launch online betting platforms. Those professional sporting venues and the five yet-to-be-constructed casinos will also be allowed to apply for licenses to operate physical sportsbooks.

Under the new Virginia sports betting law, online sports betting operators will be subject to a 15% tax on adjusted gross revenues and a licensing fee of $50,000 for every principal who controls a 5% or greater stake in the organization in addition to the $250,000 fee for a three-year betting license to operate in the state.

Virginian law sets a minimum age of 21 to place wagers on sports. Bettors do not need to be state residents to visit retail sportsbooks or bet online, however, all online betting sites are required to prevent wagers being placed from out of state through the use of geolocation technology.

Licensed sportsbook operators in Virginia may accept wagers on professional sports, eSports and college sports except those contests featuring in-state teams. The law also forces sports betting operators to use official league data to settle all disputed in-play betting wagers when required.

U.S. Federal lawmakers have uniformly decided that Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) competitions are not reckoned to be gambling, and they are actually games of skill.

Virginia was quick to act following the federal ruling and legalized DFS in 2016 under the State’s Fantasy Contests Act that was signed into law by Governor Terry McAuliffe. The bill requires DFS sites to protect players by:

• Registering with the state and to pay a $50,000 registration fee.
• Prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from participating in DFS competitions,
• Prohibiting employees from competing in real money contests and sharing confidential information, and;
• Providing a gateway for customers to exclude themselves from playing in DFS competitions if required.

Virginians will be pleased to know that eSports was included in the package of sports that are now considered legal in the state.

eSports – What is it?

eSports (video game play at the highest professional level) has transformed competitive gaming betting.

With its roots in the LAN gaming ‘underground’ communities of the late ‘90s and early 2000s, respectability, marketability and popularity of eSports has followed.

Today, it has become a full-fledged billion-dollar industry, and an official network of professional gaming tournaments and leagues playing games like Rocket League, Overwatch, Dota 2 and Fortnite. With each passing tournament, the prizes get richer and viewership increases.

Naturally, when money is there to be made, sports-bettors follow.

A global gambling scene has developed in eSports, with a full range of international bookmakers framing betting markets on the major network of global eSports tournaments.

Rather than creating a dark underground economy in Virginia, legalized betting on eSports could well will assist in easing the sports betting legalization process in the state, and thereby adding to the state’s tax revenues to pay for infrastructure projects and improved state services like health, education and aged care services.

Placing wagers at racetracks is one of the forms of legal gambling in Virginia, which is fortunate because the last racetrack in the state re-opened for a season schedule. Applications to hold a legal horse race in the State of Virginia can be placed through the Virginia Racing Commission.

Trackside Betting

Racetrack betting in Virginia is legal, with one last live racetrack still going strong in the state on a seasonal schedule.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Virginia

Betting is permitted in Virginia at a number of designated OTB branches, along with electronic kiosks in bars, taverns and restaurants for limited betting on simulcast horse races.

Online Horse Racing in Virginia

Horse Racing Betting Online is readily available to Virginia’s visitors and residents. Online racebooks available for legal betting are all easy to access and you may bet online directly from your tablet, phone, other mobile device or home computer.

Visitors and residents of Virginia can find attractive online odds on thoroughbred racing in the U.S. and all major horse racing venues worldwide.

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