So your revenue’s low and business isn’t expanding – where do you turn? No, not where, “Everybody knows your name.” Expand it to the Internet. That is exactly what West Virginia is doing. According to Flushdraw, “the state of West Virginia is considering legalizing online gambling to try to counteract the loss of the state’s gambling revenue to casinos across state borders.”
What is causing this massive decline? Mainly, it’s where in the state the Casinos are located. For example Flushdraw explains, “Hollywood Casino, in particular, appears to be particularly threatened by the Maryland Live! Casino, based on geography. While the Hollywood Casino is not all that far away from Baltimore, Maryland Live! is much closer, giving local gamblers no reason to travel to West Virginia to play.”
West Virginia Lottery director, John Musgrave, says that, “We still are experiencing competition as the new casinos are coming on in Maryland and some in Ohio.”
If a casino’s location is the only reason revenues are declining, why not move them? Location is not the only thing handicapping West Virginia. West Virginia also has a ban on smoking, which for some people would be great, but for others they want their cigarettes, alcohol and gambling.
“Higher-ups at the Mountaineer Casino believe that the ban could dent revenues by as much as 20 percent,” the report notes.
If West Virginia gets online gambling passed what can we expect to see? According to Musgrave, West Virginia’s online offering “would likely be in the form of a smartphone app.” The App could allow such things as poker and lottery tickets. The other addition Musgrave wants to add is a way to benefit retailers since a decline of in store lottery sales would be possible.
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