West Virginia Lottery to submit emergency iGaming rule

The West Virginia Commission has announced that it will file a 39-page emergency rule to the Secretary of State later this month, providing for the establishment of iGaming in the state.

The emergency rule was approved by the Commission last week but State Lottery Director John Myers said it could change following a public comment period this summer.

It is expected to be later in 2021 before actual betting takes place, as the emergency rule will go before the legislature in next year’s legislative session for final approval, MetroNews reports.

A bill passed by state lawmakers 2019 established iGaming giving the Lottery more than a year to design and implement regulations at the state’s five casinos. The sites will be able to run land-based casino games, such as poker. iGaming can only be played by someone physically in the state, like the sports betting rules.

The rule passed last week includes other provisions included in sports betting. One of those gives the lottery commission the authority to grant interim licenses to vendors for up to 270 days while full vetting is taking place.

Myers said the rule includes three pages of civil penalties that can be applied to anyone who breaks the law. "Hopefully this can act as a deterrent to any type of that activity," he said.

The rule also deals with what happens if personal information of those playing is breached.

Myers previously told MetroNews he expects iGaming to bring in about the same kind of revenue as sports betting which has a 10 percent tax rate for the state on money bet at the casinos and through mobile apps.

"The tax rate is 15 percent in iGaming and 10 percent in sports wagering but with the number of people we have I expect the same revenue generation," Myers said.

Myers doesn’t expect the build-out of iGaming to be as labor-intensive as getting sports betting up and running in West Virginia.

"The initial build-out of the iGaming system–they can almost take the new games, which will come in a suite and they can lay that right on top of a sports wagering-type of platform," Myers said late last year. "It’s not going to be as labor-intensive or to take as long to get out as sports wagering."