In West Virginia this week, the final rules for sports betting were approved by the state Lottery Commission while a proposal to include an integrity fee was rejected. According to the West Virginia Metro News… It was the second time the integrity fee had been rejected when earlier this year during the legislative session attempts by the leagues to include an integrity fee in the state’s new sports betting bill were thwarted by state lawmakers. The second effort attempted to use the rule-making process to persuade the Lottery Commission to approve the fee. Proposed integrity fee: John Cavacini, president of the West Virginia Gaming & Racing Association, reportedly said that in approving the integrity fee a “terrible precedent” would have been set. “It puts us in a position if we don’t like the information that we’re getting, or if it’s not good information, we’re stuck that we have to buy it from major league sports or one of their sub-leasees, which they own most of them,” said Cavacini.
Prior to Wednesday’s vote, 18 proposed changes to the rules were reviewed by the commission. Seven of the 18 proposed changes were from the sports leagues. All seven were rejected, the most significant of which was the integrity fee. The commission reportedly justified its vote by saying, “The Lottery declines to intervene between negotiations between private business entities.” And according to Cavacini, whose West Virginia Gaming & Racing Association represents Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Mardi Gras Casino & Resort, Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort and Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, the commission made the right call. After the commission voted, Cavacini reportedly said, “The state has no business negotiating a contract between two privately held, for-profit, companies.”
PASPA & SB 415: Acting in anticipation of a favourable US Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association where on May 14, 2018, the high court held that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional, on March 9 this year, less than six weeks after it was first introduced in the Senate, SB 415 (pdf) labelled, West Virginia Sports Lottery Wagering Act, became law. The bill became law without West Virginia Governor Jim Justice‘s signature and in spite of a last-ditch attempt from Major League Baseball (MLB) along with the National Basketball Association (NBA). The pro leagues have been lobbying for their preferred version of the bill, one with a tax on 1% of handle or an “integrity fee,” which would be paid directly to the leagues. Last month in the letter to the commission, representatives of the NBA, MLB and the PGA Tour made their case for the integrity fee, according to the news agency.
“If the Sports Wagering Rule does not include strong and reasonable integrity protections the leagues are seeking, legalized sports gambling in West Virginia will deprive the leagues of important tools to detect and prevent manipulation and corruption.”
