League’s request for integrity fee rebuffed in West Virginia
News on 4 Oct 2018
News on 4 Oct 2018
West Virginia regulators approved intrastate sports betting regulations Wednesday, simultaneously rejecting an attempt by national sports leagues to get a cut of the action through an “integrity fee” that was supported by state governor Jim Justice.
The West Virginia Lottery Commission rebuffed efforts by Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the PGA Tour to carve out their own slice of the state’s sports betting revenue following the launch of the state’s legal wagering market in August.
The leagues had demanded an ‘integrity fee’ and the mandatory use by operators of league-supplied data (at a price).
Gov. Justice owns the state’s Greenbrier Resort, which hosts a PGA Tour event, local media writers were quick to point out.
Regulators were backed by members of the state Legislature, who vehemently opposed the leagues’ demands and refused to include them in the legislation, and this week the state’s casino operators threatened to sue if the state revised its emergency sports betting regulations to accommodate the leagues’ demands.
Justice recently appointed John Myers as the WV Lottery’s new director, and WV Metro News reported that Myers made a strong pitch for the leagues’ demands at the Lottery Commission’s meeting on Wednesday.
However, commissioners rejected all seven of the leagues’ proposed changes to the emergency betting rules, saying it was up to the operators if they wanted to negotiate deals with the leagues, but that it would not make such collaboration compulsory.
News on 4 Oct 2018
West Virginia regulators approved intrastate sports betting regulations Wednesday, simultaneously rejecting an attempt by national sports leagues to get a cut of the action through an “integrity fee” that was supported by state governor Jim Justice.
The West Virginia Lottery Commission rebuffed efforts by Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the PGA Tour to carve out their own slice of the state’s sports betting revenue following the launch of the state’s legal wagering market in August.
The leagues had demanded an ‘integrity fee’ and the mandatory use by operators of league-supplied data (at a price).
Gov. Justice owns the state’s Greenbrier Resort, which hosts a PGA Tour event, local media writers were quick to point out.
Regulators were backed by members of the state Legislature, who vehemently opposed the leagues’ demands and refused to include them in the legislation, and this week the state’s casino operators threatened to sue if the state revised its emergency sports betting regulations to accommodate the leagues’ demands.
Justice recently appointed John Myers as the WV Lottery’s new director, and WV Metro News reported that Myers made a strong pitch for the leagues’ demands at the Lottery Commission’s meeting on Wednesday.
However, commissioners rejected all seven of the leagues’ proposed changes to the emergency betting rules, saying it was up to the operators if they wanted to negotiate deals with the leagues, but that it would not make such collaboration compulsory.
