W.V. Lottery Officials Seek Help To Launch Online Casinos

• West Virginia became the fifth state in the U.S. to legalize online casinos in poker in March of 2019.
• Lottery officials from W.V. met with lottery officials in Pennsylvania to see how online sportsbooks and online casinos could integrate.
• West Virginia currently has two active online sportsbooks in DraftKings and FanDuel.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia, a state that has already institutionalized sports betting, is currently in the process of institutionalizing online casinos in the same way. In March, West Virginia passed a law that legalized online casinos in the state and set up some ground rules for what the framework of regulations could look like.

The West Virginia Lottery Commission, which oversees legalized gambling in the state, has until July 1st, 2020 to not just draft, but enact the regulations for online gaming. This is a little over a year from the day the bill originally passed the West Virginia State Legislature.

The state is aiming to have the regulations done before the deadline, with West Virginia Lottery Director John Myers quoted in the WV Metro News as saying “The May to June timeframe, so that will allow us, with the time that we’re allotted to get the permanent rule in place to get beyond the legislative session (in 2021) and file the permanent rule.”

In other words, the regulatory framework could be complete as early as May of next year and could become permanent around that time as well.

In order to receive a license to operate an online casino in West Virginia, applicants must pay a $250,000 application fee. If they are approved, they receive a five-year license, with possible renewals available.

West Virginia House Bill 2934 has offered licenses to the currently licensed racetrack facilities, as well as, per the legislation, the historic resort hotel, The Greenbrier.

The bill specifically mentions that the “the operation of the four racetracks and the historic resort hotel in this state play a critical role in the economy of this state”, acknowledging the economic benefit of legalized gambling, and wishing to expand that further.

In addition, the language of the bill seems restrictive to what further licenses the state of West Virginia might issue, stating that “The Legislature finds that the most effective and efficient manner in which the state can operate and regulate the forms of lottery authorized by the provisions of this article is to limit the number of authorized operators to those who are licensed.”

Basically, as soon as the regulatory framework is complete, there should be legalized online casinos in West Virginia, partnered with the racetracks and the Greenbrier, which are currently the only entities allowed to run online casinos in the state.