West Virginia Lottery Director Alan Larrick recently said sports betting is on track to launch at the state’s casinos on or close to the start of football season this fall. “We’re optimistic we can get it done. If we miss it by a week or two, so be it. We’re not going with it until we know we’re ready. All the casinos are working on building out their sportsbooks,” he said.
Larrick said the legislation passed in March legalizing sports betting gives the state’s five casinos broad authority to contract with sports betting service providers. “Each casino can pick whoever they want to run their sports betting. We’ve left that up to the casinos,” he said. The Greenbrier recently announced it had retained FanDuel to provide on-site and mobile sports betting at the resort casino.
In addition, lottery commissioners also approved Gaming Laboratories International as a test laboratory for sports-wagering equipment in the state. GLI has provided West Virginia with gaming and system testing, regulatory and technical consultation, forensic assistance and on-site field inspection services since 1990.
Lottery commissioners also approved re-licensing the state’s five casinos for the 2018-19 budget year. Racetrack casino licenses are $2.5 million annually, and the Greenbrier casino license is $500,000 a year. Lottery Deputy Director of Finance and Administration Dean Patrick said despite competition from casinos in neighboring states, the parent companies of four of the five casinos reported profits in the past year.
The exception was the Greenbrier casino which reported operating losses of $884,000 in the past year. Patrick said that deficit was “considerably less” than past years at the resort casino. “The Greenbrier has always been big on complimentaries,” Patrick said. He said the Greenbrier casino serves more as an amenity for hotel guests than as a profit center.
Patrick noted the Greenbrier still is dealing with losses from the 2016 flood. The casino resort has collected $38 million in insurance claims for property damage and business interruption. “I know there’s considerably more outstanding,” he said. Governor Jim Justice, owner of the resort, has stated in press conferences that it’s difficult getting insurance companies to pay claims for flood damages at the resort.
The Justice Family Group, the Greenbrier’s parent company, reported nearly $18 million in losses on $149 million of gross revenue, Patrick said. “As it stands right now, they’re liquid.”
The lottery also reported through May, it posted gross revenue of $998.7 million, up $7.72 million from the same time in 2017. As a result, Larrick said, lottery revenue passed the $1 billion mark at some time in June for the 16th consecutive year. The numbers will be reported in July. Larrick said an increase in sales of traditional scratch off and online games, and in Limited Video Lottery at 1,302 bars, clubs and fraternal organizations, accounted for milestone.
In May, traditional game sales increased 9 percent, or $1.3 million, over May 2017, to $15.4 million. May Limited Video Lottery revenue of $31.97 million increased $1.9 million from May 2017; the legislature increased the maximum number of LVL machines allowed in bars and clubs from five to seven. Those gains offset a decline of $1.63 million in May for racetrack video lottery, and a drop of $290,000 in table games revenue at state casinos.
The state’s share of lottery profits was down slightly for May to $4.7 million. Year-to-date, state lottery profits were $461.2 million, up about $100,000 from the same point in 2017.
