West Virginia lottery looking to expand into online gaming

[iGaming Diva]

West Virginia lottery is considering whether to expand into online gaming to combat competition from surrounding states. Despite their interest to expand, don't expect online gambling this year. The next meeting between casino executives and the Lottery is not set until late October in Charleston.

Should West Virginia elect to use a single-provider setup, 888 Poker would immediately become a frontrunner due to their experience in operating gaming sites in Delaware. Using 888 would also help facilitate future online compacts with other states since the company has a footprint in every legalized market.


This is good news!
Slow and easy it seems to be heading in the right direction.

What's you thoughts on this?

[iGaming Diva]

Here is a update that I found about this topic:

West Virginia’s gambling industry is facing a number of obstacles, with numbers impacted by issues such as smoking bans at land casinos and the growing number of players taking their gambling activities online. Other factors that have impacted numbers include the introduction of “pay at the pump” gas stations across the state, which removes the need for drivers to get out of their cars and enter the gas station – thereby lowering their exposure to lottery tickets sold on these premises. The lottery believes that it will be able to put a halt to falling numbers if it taps into alternative markets such as online and mobile platforms.

According to West Virginia Lottery Director, John Musgrave: “We’re still exploring online gaming because we feel that’s the way the industry’s moving, so we want to plan for it. We have not yet made any decision for how we’re going to implement it, but we are looking at it, studying it and seeing how our casinos in our jurisdiction can move in that direction. We’re still seeing a decline [in revenue]. We still are experiencing competition as the new casinos are coming on in Maryland and some in Ohio. That hasn’t plateaued.”