West Virginia casinos ready to set sports books
As they look to be ready by the beginning of the football season, casinos in the state are confident they’ll make it in time.
US.- While West Virginia aims to get the sports betting segment ready before the football season starts next September, casino operators in the state are optimistic about their chances to make it happen. Several companies’ executives have assured they’re working on setting their own sports books and believe they’ll be ready in about a month.
“I believe we can make it,” Scott Saunders, general manager of the casino in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle said and added: “We have a great design and construction team in our corporate office. I believe in the timeline. We’re gonna be OK.”
However, West Virginia Gaming and Racing Association president John Cavacini is not very optimistic about the segment’s potential performance: “Quite frankly, this is not a big moneymaker for the facilities but there is more excitement and more calls on this issue than any issue I’ve been involved with — and that includes slot machines and table games,” he said.
The Lottery Commission has established the ground rules for sportsbooks at casinos but has also allowed gaming venues to set temporary locations for them while they get the permanent ones ready. That’s why the regulatory body’s counsel Danielle Boyd explained that the application forms for interim licences should be available soon: “We’d like to start issuing these interim licences ASAP. We’re still hoping to have them up and running by Sept. 1,” she said.
