Virginia Moves Closer to Legal Online Casinos After Senate Approves SB118
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Virginia State Capitol (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
TheVirginiaSenatehastakenasignificantsteptowardlegalizingonlinecasinos,narrowlypassingSenateBill118(SB118),legislationthatwouldauthorizeregulatediGamingacrossthestateifultimatelyapprovedbytheHouseandsignedintolaw.
Thebillpassedbya19-17voteafteraninitialrejectionearlierthesameday,highlightinghowdividedlawmakersremainovertheexpansionofonlinegambling.AlateamendmentincludedinthefinalSenateversiondelaysimplementationuntilJuly1,2027,creatingalongerrunwayforregulatorsandstakeholderstoprepareforapotentialmarketlaunch.
Undertheproposal,existingland-basedcasinooperatorsinVirginiawouldbeeligibletoapplyforiGaminglicenses,eachcosting$500,000forafive-yearterm,whileindividualdigitalplatformsoperatedunderthoselicenseswouldrequireanadditional$2mfee.Thelegislationalsoproposesa20%taxonadjustedgrossiGamingrevenue,alongwitha6%economicdevelopmentfeedesignedtosupportexistingbrick-and-morta
