West Virginia expects to launch igaming in June
Regulator paves way for online casino launch once emergency rules are confirmed in late spring
West Virginia is expected to launch igaming in June 2020 once the regulator has filed its emergency rules with the legislator.
Draft rules are currently being reviewed by industry stakeholders after the regulator sought assistance from Pennsylvania’s gaming control board in December.
West Virginia Lottery director John Myers told EGR North America there had been huge interest from the state’s five casinos, as well as from mobile betting operators DraftKings and FanDuel.
Myers expects casinos and online operators to be able to put systems in place in late spring, ready for launch in June, after being hit by regulatory delays concerning the implementation of emergency rules.
West Virginia House representative and betting advocate Shawn Fluharty said he was proud the state would soon be collecting taxes for both betting and igaming.
New Jersey reported $109m in tax revenue for both verticals in 2019.
This. Proud to say WV is set to be doing both soon. https://t.co/gfOuk779we
— Shawn Fluharty (@WVUFLU) January 14, 2020
Igaming licenses in West Virginia will cost $250,000 initially, with a five-year renewal fee of $100,000.
Myers told the West Virginia Metro News in December that he expected igaming to bring in similar revenues to mobile sports betting, which recorded revenues of $5.5m since launching in August.
Elsewhere in the Mountain State, Roar Digital launched its BetMGM mobile betting app this week in partnership with The Greenbrier, which also operates the DraftKings app on its license.
Penn National’s Hollywood Casino in Charles Town switched its sports betting management service provider from William Hill to Kambi recently, as part of Penn’s multi-state sportsbook deal with Kambi.