Virginia: Governor Justice plans special Legislature session on sports betting law

Gov. Jim Justice said he still plans to call the Legislature in for a special session this month, dealing with his plans for a revamped state arts department as well as West Virginia’s sports betting law. Industry insiders believe Justice let the bill go into law without his signature because his family owns The Greenbrier Resort, which has gambling.

An undercurrent of controversy has continued because, if sports gambling is legalized in West Virginia, professional leagues will want to charge an 'integrity fee', which would tax the handle and pay out to each league on which sports wagering would occur.

Justice proposes taking another look at integrity fees during the special session, which would likely coincide with regularly-scheduled legislative interim meetings, May 20-22.

Prior to that, the Justice administration said Friday, there will be a stakeholders meeting of West Virginia’s casinos plus representatives of the professional sports leagues. The administration indicated that could be late this week.

Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League were involved with lobbying efforts during the legislative session.

“And I think even the PGA is coming in, and maybe even the NCAA also is coming in,” Justice said Friday. “I think we’re just gathering a little bit more information, I really believe that we need to bring them under the umbrella for the amount of the fee that they wanted, or we negotiated.”

Originally, sports leagues were asking for an integrity fee of about 1 percent, as they had also desired in other states that were considering sports betting legislation. Justice said any fee that might be considered during a special session would be less than that.

“They wanted a percent, we negotiated to a quarter of a percent and if we can get them to sign on for that and everything and bring them under the umbrella, I think that’s very very minimal cost to the casinos, and I think it would be a good thing,” Justice said.

His comments got the attention of reporters who cover the gaming industry. Legal Sports Report wrote an analysis this week of Justice’s comments.

“It’s not clear what benefit Justice believes the state will realize from giving them a fee,” Legal Sports Report wrote. “And the idea that he negotiated the leagues down to a smaller percentage is bizarre, seeing as the state already has a law that gives them no fees whatsoever.”

The registered lobbyist for both the MLB and NBA in West Virginia, Larry Puccio, was the leader of Governor Justice’s transition team. Puccio is also a lobbyist for The Greenbrier Resort, owned by Justice’s family.

“The only groups with a real presence in the state are the PGA Tour — which holds an event at The Greenbrier — and the NCAA, with a pair of Division I schools in the state. (Justice owns The Greenbrier.) There are also minor league baseball teams in the state,” Legal Sports Report concluded. “But the NBA and MLB have obviously lobbied their way to a position where the law could be put back into play. This week’s meetings might provide more insight."