Virginia lawmakers have an opportunity in 2025 to allow residents of the commonwealth to wager on teams like the Cavaliers and Hokies — and maybe dabble in some online slots and table games as well.
The Virginia General Assembly will convene next week for a 30-day legislative session.
Bills are being reheated and prefiled ahead of that session, including at least two pieces of legislation that involve legal sports betting and online casino gambling.
The latter product, iGaming, is not yet legal in Virginia. However, Democratic State Sen. Mamie Locke prefiled legislation on Dec. 31 that would authorize iGaming under the watch of the Virginia Lottery Board.
aMAYOzing day for a Bowl Game, am I right? 😏#ThisIsHome | @DukesMayoBowl | @kroger pic.twitter.com/xhuz0MkD54
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) January 3, 2025
The bill has been referred to the Senate's General Laws and Technology Committee.
If passed, Virginia’s gaming regulator could issue iGaming licenses to brick-and-mortar casino operators in return for a $1 million application fee and 15% of adjusted gross gaming revenue. The bulk of the tax revenue, 97.5%, would go to the state’s general fund, while 2.5% would be earmarked for the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund.
A licensed iGaming operator could offer as many as three platforms and could contract with up to three platform providers to run online casinos on its behalf. Those platforms would have to use “a single distinct brand,” the bill says, although they could use a second one for poker.
Three casinos are now operating in Virginia, with a fourth in the works in Norfolk. That could mean more than a dozen online casino brands for the state if the bill were to pass, which is uncertain and perhaps unlikely.
Nevertheless, if the bill becomes law, the Virginia Lottery Board would have to publish iGaming regulations by Sept. 30, 2025, and the lottery's director could start taking license applications even before then, on July 1 of this year.
"An Internet gaming operator or Internet gaming platform provider shall be permitted to offer live Internet game simulcasts from any live Internet game studio premises in any location," Senate Bill 827 states. "Live Internet game studios shall not be required to be located in the Commonwealth, and no reciprocal agreement shall be required for the offering of live Internet game simulcasts."
Again, while it’s unclear what the appetite will be for iGaming, Virginia would be a significant addition to the fold. Online casino gambling is legal and available in just seven U.S. states at the moment: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
Mayo Bowl-less no longer?
Another piece of legislation Virginia lawmakers could ponder in 2025 is Senate Bill 124, which would allow for betting on in-state college teams.
Virginia is one of several states with legal sports betting that forbids wagering on its colleges. That means tonight's Duke’s Mayo Bowl involving the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Virginia Tech Hokies is off-limits at local online sportsbooks.
Even so, if S.B. 124 were to pass, the wagering on college sports would still be limited to markets such as sides and totals — but not props, which would remain off the menu at Virginia sports betting sites.
Democratic Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg introduced the measure for the 2024 session before it hit a roadblock during the committee process. Members of the Senate's finance and appropriations committee then voted to carry the bill over to the 2025 session, where it could be reconsidered.
This is it, though. Under the legislature’s rules, S.B. 124 can’t be carried over again into 2026.
