The Virginia lottery released its full draft sports betting regulations for public comment Monday, with the regulated online sports betting market expected to launch in January 2021.

The proposed regulations cover topics including operations, internal controls and enforcement, and are open to public comment until September 9, one week prior to the deadline set for the lottery board to approve the regulations.

Subject to approval of the regulations, licensing is expected to begin in October, with the first online sports betting operations expected to go live in January next year. A total of 12 online-only sports betting licenses will be available in the state.

“The Virginia Lottery takes very seriously its role assigned by the General Assembly to appropriately and responsibly regulate sports betting in the Commonwealth,” said Virginia Lottery executive director Kevin Hall.

“The regulatory framework we are building now is vital to the process, and we are committed to doing so with transparency to allow stakeholders and the public to weigh-in on these preliminary rules-of-the-road for sports wagering in Virginia.”

Gaming Intelligence