Deputy Editor
Stakeholders have begun laying the foundation for a possible iGaming push in Virginia, spreading money around ahead of next month’s state elections.
According to a recent report from local public radio station Radio IQ, the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) has donated more than $2 million to Virginia Democrats. Although the group has also contributed to Republicans, those donations amount to less than $500,000. The Republicans are simultaneously seen as less likely to win the election and less inclined toward gambling expansion overall.
The SBA is a trade group comprising national online betting operators DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, and bet365. Its stated mission:
SBA believes customers in all 50 states should enjoy the benefits of transparent and legal sports betting and online casino gaming with consumer protections and responsible gaming tools that do not exist on the unregulated market.
Since Virginia already has legal online sports betting, that can only mean the SBA is hoping to create a favorable legislative environment for online gambling more broadly.
That may include online poker. Of the SBA members, only BetMGM has a full-scale online poker product, though FanDuel is under the same roof as PokerStars. Nonetheless, states that legalize online casinos typically include online poker in the same legislation.
“Usually when you are looking at all of the various groups and industries that are donating to candidates, most of them are local. Most of them are from Virginia,” political scientist Jennifer Victor told Radio IQ, “and so, to have an out-of-state interest that is playing a really outsized role this campaign season suggests there’s a lot of money to be made.”
Victor teaches at George Mason, a university in the state.
Currying Favor With Virginia Democrats?
While gambling can be a bipartisan issue, online casino expansion has taken place mostly in neutral to Democrat-skewing northeastern states. However, the lopsided investment by the SBA may simply come down to the fact that the Democrats are heavily favored to sweep in November. If the Democrats win both the gubernatorial vote and a majority in the House of Delegates, the iGaming stakeholders will have positioned themselves well for a possible legalization push.
Seen in that light, the contributions to the Republicans may essentially be a hedge.
Prediction markets see the Democrats as heavy favorites in both races. Kalshi betters have given them a 93% chance of winning each election.
Virginia legalized sports betting, including online betting, in 2020. The market opened in January 2021.
By contrast, Virginia does not have legal online casinos or poker. Nearby states Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware do, though. Together, those states have produced nearly $4.5 billion in iGaming taxes since their markets opened, according to data aggregated by PokerScout.
If Virginia is going to join its neighbors, the SBA members expect to reap some of the windfall. And they’re laying the foundation of being able to do so by putting their considerable financial resources behind state Democrats.
Image credit: Ron Cogswell/Wikimedia Commons (license)
