The Virginia Lottery is vetting applicants for online sports betting and is still on track to launch operations early in 2021.
Lottery Director Kevin Hall told the lottery’s board that an early 2021 sports betting launch remains the goal and that the lottery saw a significant amount of sports betting applications during its two-week application window in October. No specific operators were named.
Meanwhile, voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, and Portsmouth all approved brick-and-mortar casinos for their towns during the election. Hall said he’s hopeful the casino regulatory and application processes will begin in spring 2021.
Virginia lawmakers approved sports betting in April and mandated that the Lottery develop and approve sports betting rules by Sept. 15. The lottery met the deadline and then moved to accept and vet applicants.
