CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Lottery reported just under $101 million in revenue for February.
The Lottery Commission got a look at the new totals during Thursday’s monthly meeting in Charleston.
Limited Video Lottery (LVL) continues to be the largest producer of revenue bringing in $39.9 million in February which is about $10 million above projection. LVLs have produced $320 million in the first eight months of the fiscal year.
State Lottery Director John Myers said LVLs have been riding high ever since the parlors were reopened following the pandemic shut-down nearly two years ago.
“It’s almost unexplainable,” state Lottery Director John Myers told MetroNews following the meeting. “LVL has continued to maintain a very high pace.”
The industry has also been helped by legislative action that has allowed them to increase the number of machines in various locations.
Meanwhile, February numbers showed Racetrack Video Lottery produced $38 million in revenue and instant games $12.9 million.
The Lottery reported sports betting revenue for February at $193,000. So far this fiscal year sports betting has revenue of just more than $3.2 million. Myers said the relatively low number isn’t surprising.
“For the companies that offer sports wagering, they operate on margin of about 8%. We’re getting 10% of that 8% and our revenue numbers reflect that. Our revenue numbers are small as a result,” Myers said.
The numbers show iGaming is growing. It brought in $1.2 million in February and $7.8 million this fiscal year.
“It’s doing pretty well,” Myers said. “We have a 15% tax rate. The play on iGaming has been more than expected.”
Refinancing approved
The Lottery Commission voted in emergency session Thursday to agree to the refinancing of debt for Century Gaming, the owner of Mountaineer Casino in Hancock County.
Century has a deal with Goldman-Sachs to refinance $167 million in debt as part of a $350 million corporate loan that will allow the company to purchase a gambling facility in Nevada.
Myers said the commission decided to hold an emergency meeting in order not to delay the refinancing plan.
“They have a very short timeline and we didn’t want to see any impact on the operations (at Mountaineer) because of the number of people that work there and the amount of revenue they generate for West Virginia,” Myers said.
The Lottery Commission will next meet on April 27.
https://wvmetronews.com/2022/03/31/lvl-revenue-continues-to-lead-the-way-in-state-lottery/