Virginia legislators have introduced legislation to produce the state's first-ever gaming commission in a move that could assist accelerate additional video gaming growth.

- Lawmakers presented legislation to develop the Virginia Gaming Commission, moving oversight from the state lotto.

- Separate legislation would legalize real-money online gambling establishment gaming, enabling brick-and-mortar gambling establishments to partner with up to three third-party iGaming operators.

- While the video gaming commission bill currently has bipartisan support, iGaming deals with political and market opposition that could make complex passage in 2026.

The expenses presented in both chambers this week would reassign oversight of Virginia's casino, sports wagering, everyday fantasy sports, and historical horse racing markets from the state lottery game to the new Virginia Gaming Commission. This would have a minimal direct impact on Virginia sports bettors or DFS players, but it could help stimulate even more industry growth in a state that had opposed betting for centuries.

Established in 1987, the Virginia Lottery was the first contemporary form of "gambling" legalized in the Old Dominion because its establishing more than 400 years back. It was the rational federal government body to oversee the boom in new betting types in the last few years, however now legislators intend to expand oversight.

The Virginia Lottery would continue to exist. The brand-new commission would oversee most other forms of regulated gambling.

Online gambling establishment potential

The reorganization bill comes as Virginia is set to again consider real-money online casino video gaming legislation. In a separate proposal, Virginia would allow third-party iGaming operators to partner with brick-and-mortar casinos to provide digital slots, table games, and poker.

If both costs are passed this year, the brand-new commission would be set to regulate Virginia's newest betting type. Virginia could be the ninth state to legalize real-money online video gaming and the second to do so this year, after Maine.

The Virginia Gaming Commission would also supervise potential new brick-and-mortar gambling establishments. The costs establishing the commission also lays out how new gambling establishments could be authorized.

Virginia legislators have introduced an expense that would legislate real money online gambling establishment video gaming in the Commonwealth; would permit up to 15 separate iGaming operators, 3 to each of the 5 existing brick-and-mortar casinos

In 2020, voters in Danville, Bristol, Norfolk, and Portsmouth authorized the first four licensed in-person gambling establishments in Virginia history. After Richmond citizens declined a gambling establishment, voters in Petersburg approved the state's 5th gaming center in 2024.

Several other Virginia jurisdictions, including Roanoke and Tysons, have actually considered gambling establishments of their own. Any such expansion would also require local voter approval.

The iGaming legalization bill permits brick-and-mortar gambling establishments to partner with as numerous as three third-party mobile operators apiece. New in-person gambling establishments could possibly create an opportunity for a lot more iCasinos.

Passing bills no certainty

The video gaming commission costs already has bipartisan and bicameral support and might show noncontroversial as the state deals with a comparatively quick betting growth after decades of little activity. Passing another type in might show more challenging.

Online gambling establishment video gaming has actually dealt with stiff opposition in many statehouses. Virginia lawmakers handed down serious factor to consider last year and deal with a lot of the same political headwinds in 2026.

Some Democrats in your house of Delegates and Senate oppose betting over worries it damages customers, specifically lower-income gamblers. Democrats have bulks in both chambers and turned the governor's estate last fall.

Conservative anti-gambling voices also remain strong in the legislature, especially amongst Republicans. Any iGaming legalization expense would likely require bipartisan assistance to advance.

The expense also deals with opposition from some Virginia gaming stakeholders.

Cordish Companies, which holds the Petersburg gambling establishment license, has vocally opposed iGaming, arguing it funnels residents' dollars to out-of-state companies at the cost of existing in-state tasks at the brick-and-mortar homes. The operator of a Maryland gambling establishment, its opposition assisted tank a comparable legalization effort in Virginia's northern neighbor in 2015.

It remains to be seen whether Virginia can continue its gaming advancement with iGaming expansion. But gaming-related costs introduced in the early days of the state's 2026 legal session underscore lawmakers' growing interest in the market.