According to data from the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery, Vermont generated $3.5 million in revenue from online sports betting operators in the first six months the market was legal across the state—slightly more than the state’s financial analysts had originally forecast.

That’s the state’s share of the roughly $11 million those companies earned in Vermont during the same period, the data shows. In total, people living or visiting Vermont wagered more than $100 million on sports from January to June. However, the data shows, operators paid out nearly 90 percent of that money to winners.

When state lawmakers legalized online sports betting in June 2023, the legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office estimated the market would bring $2 million into state coffers in the first six months. But Liquor and Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight said officials soon realized the market’s potential was greater.

“We are satisfied,” she said in an interview on Friday. “We showed that we were able to generate some revenue that had obviously gone to other states.”

Vermont was the last state in New England and about the 30th in the country to greenlight online sports betting, including Washington, D.C. Geolocation data provided to state lawmakers last year showed people crossing state lines from Vermont to bet on sports, mostly into neighboring New York, where online sports betting has been allowed since 2021. Within Vermont, the data also showed thousands of people attempting to illegally access sports betting platforms.

Vermont signed deals with three gambling operators last year – DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics Sportsbook – and under those agreements it now receives between 31 and 33 percent of each company’s revenue from its users in the state.

Knight expects the state of Vermont to collect about $7 million in the first full fiscal year the platforms are available (which runs from July 2024 to June 2025).

Most of the revenue from sports betting goes to the state budget, but some is reserved for new state funds that officials hope will help curb problem gambling. An estimated 12,000 people in Vermont have gambling problems, state officials have previously said.

In the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in July, the state invested $250,000 from sports betting operators – plus $250,000 in revenue from the Vermont Lottery – into a special fund for new resources to combat gambling addiction, administered by the state Department of Mental Health.

Last month, the department launched a new website that includes information for people seeking help with gambling problems, behavioral warning signs that gamblers should look out for, and a live chat staffed by peer support specialists.

“Problem gambling can have a profound impact on mental health, finances and family dynamics,” Elliott McElroy, coordinator of the Department of Mental Health’s Responsible Gambling Program, said in a press release. “On this website, individuals can find the resources and care they need to manage their problem gambling behavior.”

The state also offers a voluntary self-exclusion program for betting platforms. According to Knight, as of June there were seven people who had opted for self-exclusion for one year, five years or lifetime.

In the first six months of offering online sports betting, Vermont had an average of 39,000 monthly active users, the data shows. In total, they placed about 4.65 million bets. Knight noted that the number of active users was highest when the platforms were new — in January, there were about 52,000 users, the figures show.

According to the data, the number of active users fell to around 12,000 in July.

Vermont’s sports betting market also benefits significantly from out-of-state visitors who gamble while in the state, according to data from the Liquor and Lottery Authority. In those first six months, about 38% of active users in Vermont were from out-of-state; in July, that number was more than 43%.

Knight said the trend makes sense in a state whose economy relies heavily on tourism. The sports betting market saw a boost around the total solar eclipse in April, she said.

The data also shows that out-of-state users wagered much more money on sports betting on average than in-state users. In the first six months the platforms were online, the average bet by Vermont residents was $19.05, while bets by visitors or second home owners averaged $34.33.

The government also collects data on what sports people bet on.

Basketball was by far the most popular sport in the first half of 2024, accounting for around 40% of all bets placed, the data shows. This was followed by baseball, tennis and soccer, each with around 9% of all bets placed. Hockey came in fifth with around 5% of bets placed.

However, Knight noted that the state expects a sharp increase in football betting when the 2024-25 NFL season begins next month. The 2023-24 NFL season was in its final stages, she said, when sports betting went live in Vermont earlier this year.

A surprise for state officials, said the commissioner, was the department’s latest collection of betting data for July 2024. A new sport has crept into the top 5 most frequently placed bets: table tennis.

“Well, who would have thought?” Knight said, laughing.