Virginia’s lawmakers passed their sports betting bill into law last April. Since then, Governor Northam’s approval plus the Lottery Commission’s work on creating regulations is ongoing. Currently, the regulations are already made. Virginia pushes through with speeding the process of legalizing sportsbooks. The caveat: it comes with consumer protections, including a Bettors Bill of Rights.
The process for enabling a sports betting market now moves forward, where interested software sportsbook operators can apply by mid-October. Each applicant has a 90-day waiting period where they wait for the Lottery to approve their application. And from the pace they are working on, it seems that we may see sportsbooks operating before Super Bowl. As many pay per head bookies know, the NFL is one of the most profitable sports to bet on. Of course, the Super Bowl is one of the biggest betting events of the year.
Bettors Bill of Rights
What makes things interesting in Virginia, is that their regulations include a bettors bill of rights. Some of the provisions in the bill of rights, is the first of its kind in the US, but its not necessarily an advantage. For one, the terminology of certain concepts that sportsbooks need to provide their players may be a bit too complex. This would require advanced calculations on hundreds, even thousands of lines offered by a sportsbook on a daily basis.
The law allows 12 sports betting operators in the state, but online licenses may expand this amount. Aside from the requirement to have sportsbooks explain the odds calculation to players, sportsbooks are not allowed to offer lines on in game wagering of college games, and the Olympics. With all the restrictions and additional complications of some of the regulations, it would be interesting to see what will happen to the Virginia sports betting market in its first few months.
