Virginia lawmakers have presented legislation to produce the state’s first-ever gaming commission in a relocation that might assist speed up more gaming growth.
– Lawmakers presented legislation to create the Virginia Gaming Commission, shifting oversight from the state lottery game.
– Separate legislation would legislate real-money online casino gaming, enabling brick-and-mortar casinos to partner with approximately 3 third-party iGaming operators.
– While the video gaming commission costs currently has bipartisan assistance, iGaming faces political and market opposition that might make complex passage in 2026.
The costs presented in both chambers this week would reassign oversight of Virginia’s casino, sports wagering, day-to-day dream sports, and historical horse racing industries from the state lottery game to the brand-new Virginia Gaming Commission. This would have a minimal direct effect on Virginia sports gamblers or DFS players, but it might assist stimulate even more industry development in a state that had actually opposed betting for centuries.
Established in 1987, the Virginia Lottery was the very first modern form of “betting” legalized in the Old Dominion considering that its founding more than 400 years back. It was the sensible federal government body to manage the boom in brand-new gambling forms in the last few years, today lawmakers hope to expand oversight.
The Virginia Lottery would continue to exist. The new commission would manage most other forms of controlled gaming.
Online casino capacity
The reorganization bill comes as Virginia is set to again think about real-money online casino video gaming legislation. In a different proposition, Virginia would allow third-party iGaming operators to partner with brick-and-mortar gambling establishments to use digital slots, table games, and poker.
If both bills are passed this year, the brand-new commission would be set to regulate Virginia’s latest gambling kind. Virginia could be the ninth state to legislate real-money online gaming and the 2nd to do so this year, after Maine.
The Virginia Gaming Commission would likewise oversee potential new brick-and-mortar gambling establishments. The expense establishing the commission likewise sets out how brand-new gambling establishments could be authorized.
Virginia legislators have presented a bill that would legislate genuine cash online gambling establishment video gaming in the Commonwealth; would enable up to 15 separate iGaming operators, three to each of the 5 existing brick-and-mortar casinos
In 2020, voters in Danville, Bristol, Norfolk, and Portsmouth authorized the first four certified in-person gambling establishments in Virginia history. After Richmond voters rejected a gambling establishment, voters in Petersburg approved the state’s 5th gaming facility in 2024.
Several other Virginia jurisdictions, including Roanoke and Tysons, have considered casinos of their own. Any such growth would similarly require regional voter approval.
The iGaming legalization expense allows brick-and-mortar casinos to partner with as many as three third-party mobile operators apiece. New in-person casinos might potentially develop an opportunity for a lot more iCasinos.
Passing bills no sure bet
The video gaming commission costs currently has bipartisan and bicameral support and might prove noncontroversial as the state handles a relatively quick betting growth after decades of little activity. Passing another type in iGaming may show more difficult.
Online casino gaming has actually dealt with stiff opposition in most statehouses. Virginia lawmakers handed down severe consideration last year and deal with a number of the exact same political headwinds in 2026.
Some Democrats in your house of Delegates and Senate oppose gambling over fears it harms customers, particularly lower-income bettors. Democrats have bulks in both chambers and turned the guv’s mansion last fall.
voices likewise stay strong in the legislature, particularly among Republicans. Any iGaming legalization expense would likely need bipartisan assistance to advance.
The costs likewise deals with opposition from some Virginia gaming stakeholders.
Cordish Companies, which holds the Petersburg casino license, has actually vocally opposed iGaming, arguing it funnels homeowners’ dollars to out-of-state business at the expenditure of existing in-state tasks at the brick-and-mortar properties. The operator of a Maryland casino, its opposition assisted tank a similar legalization effort in Virginia’s northern neighbor in 2015.
It stays to be seen whether Virginia can continue its gambling development with iGaming expansion. But gaming-related costs presented in the early days of the state’s 2026 legislative session underscore legislators’ growing interest in the industry.
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