Online casino bill filed in Virginia – National Football Post

Ahead of the legislative session beginning in Virginia later this month, a bill to legalize online casino gaming in the state has been filed.

Senator Mamie Locke has pre-filed Senate Bill 827. After being filed, it was referred to the Committee on General Laws and Technology.

Under the bill online casino games would be legalized in Virginia. Regulation of the industry would be handled by the Virginia Lottery Board who could issue licenses to the four casino operators in the state. Each operator would be allowed to offer up to three online casinos skins.

Casinos would pay a $1 million application fee for a license. Online casino revenue would be taxed at 15 percent, and 2.5 percent of taxes collected would be earmarked for responsible gambling efforts. The rest of taxes collected would go to the state’s general fund.

The four casino operators that are active in Virginia are Caesars Virginia, Golden Eagle Corp., Hard Rock Bristol, and Rivers Casino Portsmouth.

Virginia previously legalized sports betting in 2020 and it officially launched in January 2021. Since launching Virginia sportsbooks have accepted $19.2 billion in bets. Sports betting operators in the state have reported $1.9 billion in revenue and $224.2 million has been paid to the tax man.

If Virginia was successful in passing the bill and legalizing online casino gaming, they would become the eighth state to do so. However, they may not be the only state to do so in 2025 as pre-session bills for online casino gaming have been filed in Louisiana and Maryland, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has reportedly considered adding online gambling to his 2025 budget proposal.