Virginia hopes to become the latest state to legalize online casinos in the United States. Legalizing iGaming has proven to be a difficult proposition for lawmakers across the country; As of today, only six states offer online casinos in the country. 2025.
However, this list may be expanded after it became known that Senator. mommy locke took advantage of the Christmas break to previously present a new invoice, Senate Bill 827whose objective is to lay the foundations for the legalization of iGaming in the state.
Virginia wants to make money with online casinos
Virginia already has and offers sports betting, so adding an online casino should at least be a more common process. Challenges abound, as resistance to online casino expansion is often fueled by fear that the brick-and-mortar sector will be disrupted.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in Louisiana and Maryland appear set to try to do the same in 2025, hoping to perhaps influence their fellow lawmakers to pass online casino bills. But back to the bill in Virginia: SB 827 seeks to tie existing brick-and-mortar casinos to an online license.
Means, Rivers Casino Portsmouth, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, CeaseVirginia, Boyd Gaming NorfolkAND Live! Virginia Casino and Hotel everyone could suffer their first market failures.
The bill states that each of these facilities could host up to three “skins,” a term that refers to the number of brands that could partner with each physical facility to gain market access.
SB 827 is already expected to generate a good amount of money for the state if passed: licensing fees would be $1 million, and any license obtained this way would be available for five years. The tax, however, may be a bit low: it represents 15% of the gross revenue from both the website and apps operated by casino companies.
Casinos are divided on legalization: some support it and some do not.
Overall, it will be difficult to pass the bill. Companies like boyd games AND Cease Those already experienced in iGaming can be seen as generally more inclined to legalize online casinos, but others, such as Cordish Companies, have long opposed any such expansion.
This position has extended beyond state borders: The Cordian companies have also taken aim at the proposed legalization of online casinos in Louisiana, where the company’s general counsel Mark Stewartstated that the emergence of iGaming capabilities will reduce the available traffic on land-based casino sites to unpredictable consequences.
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