Lottery Commission refuses integrity fee proposal in West Virginia

The West Virginia Lottery Commission has rejected the proposal for an integrity fee for sports betting. The representatives of various sports leagues, including the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the Professional Golfers’ Association, had submitted the proposal which included the suggestion for an integrity fee from sports betting.

The commission studied the proposal, analysed the legal points and put it in to a vote. All seven suggestions in the proposal, including the one about integrity fee, were rejected.

The commission said, “The Lottery declines to intervene between negotiations between private business entities.”

West Virginia Racing Association President John Cavacini, whose organisation represents the casinos, welcomed the commission’s decision.

 “The state has no business negotiating a contract between two privately held, for-profit, companies,” he said after the commission’s vote.