VA Sports Betting Bills On Pace For Gov. Northam Signature

• Sports betting bills HB 1847 and SB 1254 are a few steps away from being signed into action by Governor Ralph Northam.
• The bills need to be signed by the Senate President and House Speaker prior to reaching the governor’s desk,
• The bills were initially identical but changed during the deliberation period.

RICHMOND, Va. – Sports betting fans in Virginia may soon see a change in their local sports betting market should two bills successfully pass in the House and Senate.

The bills will need to be voted in by the Senate President and the House Speaker. Following this, the bills will then need to be signed into effect by Governor Ralph Northam.

The bills will see an expansion on the Virginia sports betting market, with more mobile sportsbooks being able to operate in the state.

Virginia Bills Nearing Finalization

While initially identical, the legal sports betting bills veered away from one another during the detail phase in the House and Senate.

The bills, HB 1847 and SB 1254 both want to expand the current cap of sports betting operations in the state, but each now has different focuses.

HB 1847, backed by Del. Mark Sickles promoted language that would push for minority ownership to being the focus with sports betting licenses. The Senate was opposed to this initially, but have since agreed to the House’s terms and are expected to sign off on the bills.

Following this, the final phase would be Governor Northam’s signature. If the governor signs the bills into action, then more sportsbooks will be able to operate in Virginia.

Currently, the number of mobile sports betting licenses is capped at 12. With the new bill, mobile sportsbooks backed by land-based operations will not count against the cap. With the casino operations in Virginia, one of them offering two skins, this would bring the total to 18. The bills would also clarify language to allow for betting on the Olympics later this year.

This is a major step for Virginia, which has only recently launched legal sports betting in January. An expansion so early in the market’s life shows a lot of optimism for the future of the market.

News tags: HB 1847 | Jeremy McPike | Mark Sickles | Ralph Northam | Richmond | SB 1254 | Virginia | Virginia Lottery