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Bettors in Virginia have had to wait patiently to see sports betting legislation push through the required channels. They will be happy to learn that Virgina Lottery is expected to give sports betting operators who have applied for a betting license the green light in Jan 2021.
The gaming regulation in Virgina requires the gaming regulator which is the Virgina Lottery to approve a minimum of four betting licenses and a maximum of twelve. The regulator has confirmed that it has so far received a total of 25 betting operators who are eager to get into Virginia.
The Virginia Lottery will have to carefully review these applications and then shortlist which operators they want running online sports betting.
As of now, it appears that the gaming regulator will make a decision in Jan 2021 and confirm which operators have been approved and which operators have been rejected.
Should all go as per plan and betting licenses get approved no later than Jan 2021, licensed sports betting operators will push hard to have online sports betting up and running before the 2021 Super Bowl which takes place on 7 Feb 2021.
Virginia Will Approve More Than 12 Licenses
While the sports betting bill permits only 12 licenses to be approved, Kevin Hall who is the director of the Virgina Lottery said that they will likely approve more than 12 betting licenses. This will be made possible due to the fact that the betting law also allows sports betting organizations based out of Virgina to apply for betting licenses.
This will allow organizations like NASCAR, the Washington NFL franchise and D.C. United soccer franchise to apply for betting licenses. Gaming analysts predict that Virginia’s sports betting market will generate up to $400 million in 2021 if sports betting goes live in January. They expect sports betting revenues to continue to grow in the next couple of years.
While some states have permitted retail sportsbooks and have banned online sports books, Virginia are doing things in the reverse. They will proceed with online sports betting and now allow any retail sportsbooks for now.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has stated that Virginia will now be the 19th state to launch legalized sports betting after the PASPA 1992 ruling by the Supreme Court in May 2018.
