CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia Lottery issued that state’s first-ever sports betting license Friday when it received the required $100,000 licensing fee from Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.
The fee covers five years, Lottery Managing General Counsel Danielle Boyd told MetroNews.
Hollywood Casino has been out ahead of other casinos in the Mountain State moving toward sports betting.
According to Boyd, an estimated timeline for beginning sports betting includes a week of testing beginning Aug. 27 with the possibility of the sportsbook to be up and running by Labor Day weekend.
As MetroNews previously reported the sports betting area at Charles Town will be in Skybox Sports Bar.
“That can be your place for the afternoon, the day, the evening — whatever time you’re here,” Hollywood Casino General Manager Scott Saunders previously said.
Building the sportsbook will require moving slot machines that are already in that area, putting up some new walls and mounting televisions, lots of televisions.
“There should be no mistaking where the sportsbook is,” Saunders said.
There’s currently no competition in sports betting for Charles Town in those states closest to the Eastern Panhandle.
The other casinos in West Virginia including Mountaineer in Chester, Wheeling Island, Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro and the Casino Club at the Greenbrier are expected to have sports betting in place by the end of September.
The state Legislature passed a law allowing sports gaming this past legislative session. The law anticipated a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which did so in May.
MetroNews Statewide Correspondent Brad McElhinny contributed to this story.