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- Virginia lawmakers recently transferred regulatory authority over daily fantasy sports operators to the state lottery during the recent legislative session.
- However, legislators failed to pass separate proposals that would have legalized online casino gaming and created a centralized gambling commission.
Virginia’s gambling regulator now oversees four gaming verticals after daily fantasy sports moved under the Virginia Lottery, even as lawmakers failed to finish work on online casino legalization and a broader agency overhaul in the 2026 session.
That leaves the Lottery regulating the state lottery, casino gaming, sports betting, and daily fantasy contests as of September 2026. The change matters because Virginia expanded the Lottery’s workload again while separate legislation to create a centralized Virginia Gaming Commission did not pass, leaving open questions about staffing, funding, and whether the state will add any new gaming formats before 2027.
HB 145 adds fantasy sports to the Lottery’s workload
Under HB 145, regulatory authority over daily fantasy sports moved from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Virginia Lottery. The law creates three-year licenses, a $50,000 fee, and a 10% tax on operators. It also sends 95% of fantasy tax revenue to the general fund and bars fantasy contests played against the house.
Virginia had regulated fantasy sports since 2016 without imposing a tax, according to the source.
The Lottery was already the state’s main gaming regulator, overseeing sports betting, casinos, and lottery products. Virginia’s broader system remains split across three agencies:
- Virginia Lottery: lottery, casinos, sports betting, daily fantasy sports
- Virginia Racing Commission: horse racing
- Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: charitable gaming
The size of the Lottery’s existing portfolio is significant. The source says the agency has 11 approved sports betting permit holders and oversees five operating casinos. Casinos reported more than $102 million in adjusted gaming revenue in July 2026, while sports wagers topped $589 million in June 2026.
iGaming and gaming commission bills failed to reach the finish line
Virginia lawmakers also considered bills that would have made the Lottery the regulator for online casino gaming, which would have become its fifth vertical. SB 118 and HB 161 proposed iGaming with a $2 million platform fee, a $500,000 initial licensing fee, and a 20% tax on adjusted gross revenue.
Both chambers passed versions of the iGaming legislation, but the bills did not reach a compromise before the session ended on March 14.
Separate legislation, HB 271 and SB 195, would have created a Virginia Gaming Commission. But on March 9, a Senate Finance subcommittee voted to defer HB 271 to 2027.
The source also says Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed legislation on April 10 that was considered crucial to new gaming formats and signaled that Virginia should settle the question of a centralized gaming regulator before approving additional verticals. That effectively pushes major expansion questions into the 2027 session.
What to watch before the 2027 session
The source identifies several unresolved issues heading into next year’s debate: whether the Lottery has enough operational funding, leadership continuity at the agency, and how upcoming reports on sweepstakes and broader budget pressures could shape lawmakers’ next move.
For now, Virginia’s gaming market continues to grow under the existing structure. The Lottery reported more than $5.7 billion in sales in fiscal 2025 and sent $901 million to K-12 public education. Two permanent casino resorts also remain under construction with targeted completion dates in late 2027.
Source: As reported by tech-insider.org.
