Betting in Virginia

Virginia legalized mobile sportsbooks in 2020 and launched them in early 2021, years before the state’s first commercial casinos opened their doors. That sequencing flipped the usual model on its head.

Instead of casino partnerships dictating who could enter the market - like PA, MI, or IN, Virginia built a true open-field digital market first. Operators applied directly to the state, not through brick-and-mortar gatekeepers.

For bettors, that meant one thing: A deep operator roster right away, without local casino politics deciding who makes the cut.

Virginia became one of the first states where mobile betting wasn’t an add-on to casino gaming - it was the market.

Virginia sits at a 15% tax on sportsbook revenue, placing it squarely in the “healthy middle tier”: High enough for the state to generate meaningful revenue, but not so high that operators get squeezed into tightening odds or gutting promos.

For players, that balance shows up in the day-to-day experience: promos don’t dry up the way they do in higher-tax markets like Pennsylvania or New York, and odds don’t tighten to cover the tax obligation.

Virginia isn't a promo arms race, but it’s structure managed to keep the books competitive without suffocating them - and the excessive cost being passed on to bettors.

Virginia’s sports betting law allows full college wagering on out-of-state programs, but blocks all markets involving in-state schools.

This means you can’t legally bet on Virginia, Virginia Tech, JMU, Liberty, VCU, ODU, or any other Commonwealth program through licensed sportsbooks, and there’s also a ban on college player props across the board.

For bettors, that doesn’t break the market, but it does change the rhythm of college season. March Madness feels thinner when you can’t touch local teams, and big in-state football Saturdays don’t show up on the board the way they do in neighboring states.

DFS is fully legal in Virginia, and both traditional salary-cap contests and Pick ’Em formats operate openly under the state’s fantasy sports statute. Virginia was one of the first states to formally regulate DFS back in 2016, and that early framework still gives operators a clear lane today.

For bettors, it means access to everything from classic peer-to-peer fantasy slates to prop-style Pick ’Em cards - all without the regulatory uncertainty you see in states that never codified DFS into law.

Real-money online casino gaming is not authorized in Virginia. That means no legal online slots, no blackjack, no roulette, no live-dealer products, and no licensed iGaming apps of any kind.

While lawmakers have floated exploratory studies and occasional bills, none have advanced far enough to signal real movement.

For the foreseeable future, Virginia bettors looking for casino-style digital play must rely on alternative formats like Social Casinos, which operate legally under sweepstakes law, offer slots and table-style games, and provide prize-based play that stays compliant without requiring an iGaming bill.

Because Virginia has no legal iGaming and no alternative sportsbook licenses beyond the regulated operator pool, social sportsbooks and sweepstakes casinos have become meaningful side channels.

These products operate under federal sweepstakes law rather than state gambling statutes, offering prize-based sports contests and casino-style gameplay.

They don’t replace real-money wagering, but they give bettors access to softer pricing, more creative contest formats, and casino-style entertainment that licensed operators aren’t allowed to offer. In a state with growing demand and limited expansion appetite, these formats fill a very real gap.

Virginia prohibits betting on politics, award shows, entertainment outcomes, and most non-sporting events. But residents can still legally trade on those outcomes through federally regulated prediction markets, which fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than state gambling law.

These platforms - now one of the fastest-growing real-money verticals in the U.S. - offer markets on elections, macroeconomic indicators, cultural events, tech adoption trends, and more.

For Virginians, they unlock an entire category of speculation the sportsbooks are barred from touching.