Gov. Justice Stands on Sports Betting Integrity Fee, State Will Pay Nothing

Press Release

Gov. Jim Justice said today that a tentative agreement was reached Wednesday between the Lottery commission, the state's licensed casino operators, and the sports consortium that will enhance sports betting in West Virginia.

"I insisted from day one that no part of an integrity fee for sports betting would be paid by the state," Gov. Justice stated. "I demanded that the entire fee be paid by the casinos.

"This was a difficult negotiation between many different parties, but the outcome will be very good for the State of West Virginia as well as the sports leagues," Gov. Justice added.

"Additional dollars received by the state from sports betting will be utilized for the benefit of many of our residents. However, all of this is a moot issue until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the legality of sports gaming across the country."

Lottery director Alan Larrick and his staff will be working on ways to implement the integrity fee and will determine what, if any, legislation is needed for codification.​

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