Another major player is entering the West Virginia gambling market, with one of the best-known names on the Las Vegas Strip partnering with a casino company to provide additional online wagering options in the Mountain State.

WynnBET, an online casino and sports betting app developed by the interactive arm of Wynn Resorts, announced on Tuesday its entry into West Virginia. It will become the fourth online casino wagering option for bettors in the state. WynnBET will team with Delaware North, a hospitality and entertainment company whose portfolio of gaming venues includes two in West Virginia: Wheeling Island Hotel Casino and Racetrack in Wheeling and Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Nitro, near Charleston.

WynnBET adds an eighth state

Both of the Delaware North casinos in West Virginia operate retail sportsbooks, and the company also operates Betly, its own website and mobile sports betting app. The two WynnBET casinos join an expanding online gambling landscape in West Virginia that also includes DraftKings Casino (partnered with Hollywood Casino at Charles Town), BetMGM Casino (with The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs) and BetRivers Casino (with Mountaineer Casino in New Cumberland).

West Virginia will become the eighth state where WynnBET platforms are available, joining Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee and Virginia. Registered in Nevada, it claims varying degrees of market access in 18 states and is "in negotiations to obtain access in seven additional states" according to the company. The WynnBET app is available on both Apple and Android devices, and its parent company has partnerships with NASCAR, MLB, the NFL and NBA in addition to several individual teams.

iGaming a billion-dollar industry

Also known as “iGaming,” online casinos allow users to play slots, roulette, blackjack or other games on a personal computer or mobile device. West Virginia legalized online casinos and poker in 2019, becoming the fourth state to do so, allowing each of the state’s five casinos to partner with an online operator.

The move came one year after the Mountain State gave the green light to sports betting, with mobile sports wagering following in 2019. Under state law, West Virginia players must be 21 years or older, and within the state’s borders to play online casino games with real money.

Online casino games collected $1.178 billion in handle during fiscal year 2020-21 (which ran from July through June), according to the West Virginia Lottery, and have taken in $676 million in handle so far during the current fiscal year. West Virginia sports betting took in $518 million in handle during fiscal year 2020-21, and has collected over $149 million in handle since July.