West Virginia Finance Committee passes sports betting bill

On Tuesday, and after several hours of deliberation, West Virginia's Finance Committee approved Senate Bill 415, which would allow sports betting at the Mountain State’s four casinos and at The Greenbrier. Sports betting would fall under the jurisdiction of the state Lottery Commission, but about 27 percent of the money generated by gaming would go to the casinos. Regarding sports betting, 30 cents out of every $10 bet on a sports game would flow back to the state.

Proponents of Senate Bill 415 said they want to make black market sports gambling, which is already going on in the state, legal. Finance Committee chairman Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, also said the bill would bring gambling money currently going into offshore online gambling sites back to West Virginia.

Lottery officials eventually hope to create a mobile phone app to allow players to bet on sports over their phones. They think two-thirds of all sports bets will eventually be done using the apps, which are currently under development, according to Lottery Commission attorney Danielle Boyd.

Lobbyists for both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have both come out against Senate Bill 415, arguing the proposed legislation does not meet their expectations of integrity. The Finance Committee rejected proposals from the sports leagues to use official league statistics in settling claims and requiring casinos to report gaming results to the leagues.

The Finance Committee also rejected a request from the sports leagues to turn over 1 percent of the money bet to the leagues.

Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, offered an amendment to the bill that would also make sports betting legal at the state’s video lottery parlors. Whereas state casinos would pay a $100,000 annual fee to offer sports betting at their establishments, Maroney proposed a $10,000 fee for video lottery owners.

Lottery officials may eventually open sports betting up to limited video lottery establishments, but Boyd said it was too complicated to do so right now. She also doubted the move would be cost-effective before sports gaming becomes established.

Currently, only Nevada allows widespread betting on sports, although three other states allow some form of sports betting. Senate Bill 415 is contingent on the U.S. Supreme Court overturning a 2014 district court decision that found sports betting laws in New Jersey in violation of federal law.