Senate Grants Approval to West Virginia’s Satellite Casino Bill


On March 1st, the West Virginia Senate approved the WV gambling market expansion.
According to the new bill, the existing racetrack casinos in Ohio, Hancock, Jefferson and Kanawha counties are now allowed to open a smaller satellite venue located in the same county. Such satellite casinos will be offering sports betting kiosks, racetrack video lottery terminals, racetrack table games, and pari-mutuel betting.
A similar casino bill has already been declined by the Senate in 2019 and has now been brought back to life by Senator Eric Nelson. Nelson thinks that the Charleston Town Center can be a perfect place for a new casino: “It could be anywhere in Kanawha County. When you look at our mall right now, the vacancy that we have and the opportunity to bring in another tenant, a casino has a lot of benefits there. It could help to diversify, bring some economic development and job growth”.