Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signaled his support for creating a statewide gaming commission during his annual State of the Commonwealth address earlier this week.
Youngkin also seemed hesitant about reinstating skill games, a vertical that the state banned in 2023. Last year, he vetoed a bill that would have reversed that decision and made skill game machines a regulated product. Coming into 2025, he doesn’t appear to have softened at all on the issue.
Is a Virginia gaming commission on the way?
During Youngkin’s speech, he called for the creation of a committee that would oversee all gaming in the state.
During his speech, Youngkin stated:
We must take action to enable the creation of the Virginia Gaming Commission to consolidate the regulatory oversight of our vast gaming ecosystem under one entity.
Currently, the Virginia Lottery oversees sports betting and land-based casinos (along with the lottery). While several states’ lotteries oversee at least one form of non-lottery gaming, the leading gaming states in the country have gaming regulation groups separate from their state lotteries:
- New York: New York State Gaming Commission
- Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
- New Jersey: New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
- Ohio: Ohio Casino Control Commission
- Illinois: Illinois Gaming Board
“Creating a world-class leading gaming commission has to be our priority,” Youngkin said. “Let’s get a great gaming commission formulated with real professionals who know how to regulate and take care of this growing industry in Virginia.”
Skill-based gaming likely to remain illegal in VA
Youngkin banned skill gaming machines (games that require a level of skill to win) in 2023 in Virginia and, based on his recent speech, it doesn’t look like they’ll return anytime soon. The governor said passing bills about gaming before having a gaming committee would “undermine” the whole point of establishing the committee.
I think if we pre-empt that work with one-off bills in order to address a particular sector of the gaming industry we are undermining our ability to get a great gaming committee established.
What Youngkin’s comments mean for Virginia iGaming
Currently, land-based casinos and online sports betting are legal in Virginia. Online casinos are outlawed. That being said, Youngkin’s call for a gaming commission and his seeming opposition to reinstating skill-based games are a positive sign for iGaming in Virgnia.
A commission would open the door for building a regulatory framework for online casinos while a continued ban on skill games means one less competitor for online casinos and less iGaming pushback from competing stakeholders.