CHARLESTOWN, WVa. -- On the first weekend of legalized sports wagering in West Virginia gamblers bet more than $600,000 at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.
"It's going well," said Erich Zimny, Vice President of Racing Operations and Sports at Charles Town. "This past weekend college football was the big thing."
The West Virginia vs. Tennessee matchup generated high interest, Zimny said.
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races launched betting after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that a federal ban on sports betting outside Nevada and New Jersey was unconstitutional.
West Virginia's legislature had already passed legislation to legalize sports gambling in anticipation of the Supreme Court decision.
The casino about an hour west of Washington now offers betting on football, basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball, golf, tennis, auto racing, rugby, cycling, boxing and MMA, and cricket.
The West Virginia gambling industry hopes to gain back some of its lost market share after the expansion of gambling in neighboring Maryland where the MGM National Harbor casino opened in late 2017 and Maryland Live! at Arundel Mills grew.
An attempt in Maryland's General Assembly to put sports betting to a referendum for voter approval in 2018 failed. The next possible window for voter approval in Maryland will not be until 2020.
