West Virginia regulators approve full iGaming license for the state's 5 casinos

The West Virginia Lottery Commission on Wednesday approved iGaming licenses for the five casinos doing business in the state.

The commission moved the licenses for Mardi Gras, Wheeling Island, Mountaineer, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town and the Greenbrier Resort to full license status in separate votes taken at the commission’s regular monthly meeting originating Wednesday in Charleston, West Virginia MetroNews reports. 

The casinos had previously been granted 270-day interim licenses. Each operation has paid a five-year $250,000 fee for its license. The Lottery Commission made iGaming a gambling option for its license holders earlier this year after it had been approved by state lawmakers. It operates in much the same way as sports betting and in some cases as part of the sports betting apps.

Gambling revenues in November

iGaming brought in $339,000 in revenue in November, according to financial reports submitted Wednesday to the West Virginia Lottery Commission, Charleston Gazette-Mail reports. Overall gambling revenue for November came in at $72 million, a $12 million decrease when compared with November 2019.

To date, igaming and sports betting, both at on-site sportsbooks and with betting apps, remains a comparatively small part of the Lottery’s portfolio, accounting for about $798,000 in revenue for November.

After five record-setting months, Limited Video Lottery gross revenue dropped sharply in November. LVL revenue from 7,465 video lottery machines in 1,213 bars, clubs and fraternal organizations around the state fell to $32.7 million in November, down $4.6 million from October revenue — about a 12% drop — and down about $40,000 from November 2019. That follows a series of record-setting revenue months that followed more than two and a half closure of the machines and the bars and clubs that house them, as part of Gov. Jim Justice’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While LVL and traditional game revenue fell in November, casino revenue began to pick up for the month. Proceeds from Racetrack Video Lottery grossed $39.7 million, up $4 million from October, and down only about $10,000 from November 2019. Casino table games grossed $2.88 million, up about $770,000 from October, and roughly the same as November 2019 numbers.

For the month, overall Lottery revenue totaled $90.46 million, down $3.34 million from October, but up about $1.21 million from November 2019. Also for the month, the state’s share of Lottery profits totaled $40.82 million, down about $710,000 from October.

The Lottery Commission has scheduled its next meeting for Jan. 27.