In Virginia, HB 1127, state Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg’s bill to allow bets on in-state college sports, recently was voted down in a House General Laws subcommittee. However, the General Laws and Technology committee voted 11-4 to advance Senator Monty Mason‘s companion legislation, SB 576, to the Finance and Appropriations committee. The measure only would authorize betting on spreads and totals for in-state college sports events. Currently, prop bets on college sports are not allowed under the state’s sports betting law.
At the House subcommittee hearing, state Del. Barry Knight explained his opposition to HB1127. “The agreement that we had when we were counting the votes is not to allow sports betting on college sports in Virginia to try to keep a little bit−I hear the gentleman talking−but a little bit of arm’s length from the situation. And that’s kind of how we anticipated things going two years ago and I’m just going to stick with what I agreed to two years ago.”
Also at the subcommittee hearing, DraftKings Government Affairs Counsel John Mohrmann said sportsbooks want local bettors to have the right to wager on their favorite teams. He added without offering that option, it’s more difficult to win bettors back from offshore sportsbooks and to oversee the integrity of college sports. “If we want to make sure integrity stays in college sports, the best way to do that is in a legal betting market,” said Mohrmann, representing the Sports Betting Alliance which includes Bally Bet, BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel. The SBA also includes Fanatics, which has not yet launched a U.S. sportsbook.
At the Senate committee hearing, Mason said, “Quite candidly, I could not care less about the additional revenue. It is all focused on driving this above ground and not keeping it behind closed doors as it has always been.”
