Betfred Announces Upcoming Exit from Virginia Sports Betting Market

Virginia’s sports betting market is about to get a little bit smaller.

Betfred Sportsbook has announced it will be exiting the Old Dominion State on October 21. The operators stopped taking bets on Tuesday, giving players almost two weeks to withdraw funds from their accounts. All future bets will be settled based on fair market value, treating them as early cashouts.

The announcement comes as Betfred has begun to exit almost all US markets. The online sportsbook was available in eight states but will now be limited to Iowa and Pennsylvania. The operator will continue retail operations in Nevada and Washington, giving them a total of four US markets.

The UK-based sportsbook has struggled to compete for even a sliver of the sports betting market share in the US. Virginia was no exception, with the sportsbook only managing to capture around 0.1% of the market. 

The platform's little success came mainly from promos, which require a significant investment from the operator, negating much of the revenue generated.

Betfred has not announced plans to scale back any further. Other operators have taken a similar approach, focusing on one or two markets while trying to find ways to compete. Time will tell if Betfred can benefit from the strategy or if they’ll join the ever-growing list of sportsbooks that have exited the US market.

Virginia Loses Fifth Sportsbook in 2024

Virginia’s sports betting market has gotten far smaller in 2024. Betfred will be the fifth sportsbook to exit this year, joining Unibet, SI Sportsbooks, Betway, and SuperBook. 

While bettors now have fewer options to wager on sports in Virginia, the state continues to be one of the country's more successful sports betting markets. The loss of these sportsbooks shouldn’t affect the overall handle in the Old Dominion State, given the success of FanDuel, DraftKings, and other well-established operators.