The lottery administration of West Virginia is planning to introduce online gambling within the state, in order to meet the ever increasing demand from other neighboring states within that sector.
The Lottery Commission has been interested in the new changes within the gambling jurisdiction in the New Jersey state, which is said to net around $55 million to the tax coffers in the coming fiscal year. The Director of the Lottery Mr. Musgrave has been communicating with local casino executives, in order to exchange opinions about the legalization of online gambling.
Mr. Musgrave has expressed his opinion, that online gambling is where the industry is moving forward to, so therefore the state should focus on accepting the new legislation within that area.
There are no firm decisions made yet, however, the discussion is ongoing. The conversation is focused on how offline casinos, and the state’s jurisdiction will change, should an online gambling legislation be implemented.
There are several reasons why the Lottery director is open to legalizing online gambling. One is the fact the casinos within Maryland and Ohio have proven to be a threat towards instate casinos. Another reason is the implementation of the smoking ban placed on two of the racetrack casinos. The executives of the casinos explained this ban may reduce their revenue by up to twenty percent. People who like to gamble and drink happen to be smokers, too.
Both the Mountaineer and Charles Town’s casino have expressed their concerns. There are five casinos within West Virginia, four of which have racing tracks, too. Hollywood Casino, for example, is geographically close enough to feel how Maryland Live has negatively impacted its customer attendance. Many West Virginia citizens can go to Maryland Live due to its closer proximity to their homes.
Mr. Musgrave has also raised his concerns about this matter in an interview with the Daily Mail. The situation of West Virginia could become similar to New Jersey’s state, where four out of twelve casinos, under the pressure of neighboring states competition, have recently closed or have announced their closing.
West Virginia aspires to have similar online gambling legislation as the ones in Illinois, Minnesota and Georgia, where citizens can purchase tickets similar to the scratch-off tickets online, or from ATM’s and gas pumps. Musgrave explained that the West Virginia offering may come in the guise of a mobile app.
In this way, the long process of legislating will be reduced, as there will be no call to change state’s gaming laws. He showed understanding of the local grocery store and gas pump owners who raised concerns that their profits will be reduced, when customers get used to the mobile application, saying “we want to take into consideration how we would go through the retailer — the mom and pops. We want to keep those people in the mix going forward and how we can structure this to still keep the retail base to make this happen.”
