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Operators of video lottery terminals in West Virginia are enjoying some good news while also worrying about some bad news. The state and local economies have rebounded a bit, motivating customers to play more often. Even winter numbers improved over 2010 revenues.
The bad news is the potential shutdown of hundreds of the state’s 7852 terminals for at least two weeks. The machine turnoff may result from the changeover to new ten-year licences for VLT locations. All must be completed before 1 July, when the new licences take effect.
This is the first renewal since the original 2001 programme provided operators with a ten-year licence and the right to run VLTs in specific authorised locations. Last year, several VLT operators sued the state, claiming unfair bidding procedures.
At a recent VLT manufacturers’ convention, West Virginia Lottery officials called it impossible to program and operate all VLTs under the new licences by that deadline. Of the 16,000 VLT locations statewide, only ten retail locations can be activated by the Lottery’s central computer system each day. Every week without the VLTs could cost the state more than $7.5m in revenues.
Some current locations may lose their licences from the shutdown, leaving fewer licensed machines in the system. Also, some locations may then be permitted to cancel their VLT contracts with operators and buy used machines.
