WEST virginia legislature

2023 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 3232

By Delegates Riley and Nestor

[Introduced February 02, 2023; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §29-22D-25, relating to amend the regulation of fantasy gaming competitions and implementation of sports wagering by allowing the West Virginia State Gaming Control Board to accredit independent evaluators to audit and opine on the sports betting content directly or indirectly affiliated with mobile sports wagering licensees.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 3. PROVISIONS AS TO CONSTRUCTION.

§29-22D-25. Regulation of fantasy gaming competitions and sports wagering through independent evaluations.

(a) Criteria and definitions. – Independent evaluators, at a minimum, must meet the following criteria:

(1) Audit process must be constructed, executed, and maintained by no less than one in-house, active CPA. Audit process must test for all key assertions: completeness, existence, accuracy, valuation, presentation, occurrence, and presentation;

(2) Inability for the results or any other data attribute of the sports betting content to be adjusted, duplicated, altered, in anyway by the experts or influencers, mobile sports wagering licensees, and/or content partners after the related sports betting content event begins;

(3) No conflicts shall exist for those running the independent evaluator, including the following criteria:

(A) No employee or founder may also be engaged in sports betting content or a sports betting content platform – through direct relationship (such as working for, creating, selling or otherwise), investment, advising; and

(B) May not have cost per acquisition and/or revenue sharing affiliate relationships or links to a sports book operator and/or peer-to-peer betting platforms.

(C) This does not limit a sports book operator and/or sports betting content platform’s marketing of their performance by the independent evaluator, provided those marketing materials display accurate attributes.

(4) Core business must be in performance evaluation/ratings and audit practice of sports betting content.

(5) Must have been actively executing core business and be an established business for no less than one year.

(b) Sports betting content is classified as predictions of sporting events outcomes in total or in part, including but not limited to, moneylines, against the spread, totals, futures, propositions (game and player), parlays, or otherwise. This could include free predictions, subscription/sold predictions, and/or affiliate or other partnership.

(c) Experts or Influencers, also referred to as sharps, touts, handicappers, or otherwise, are defined as those who create sports betting content for mobile sports wagering licensees, for their own benefit, and/or content partners.

(d) Content partners are defined as platforms or individuals who create sports betting content for sports wagering licensees through a contracted work, affiliate or otherwise.

(e) Enactment. - The West Virginia State Lottery Commission shall accredit certain Independent Evaluators to evaluate sports betting content, specifically from experts or influencers for mobile sports wagering licensees and their content partners. The West Virginia State Lottery Commission shall have a three-month timeline to identify and accredit independent evaluators. Once complete, mobile wagering licensees, experts or influencers, and content partners will have three-months to select an independent evaluator. Reporting from the independent evaluator to the West Virginia State Lottery Commission shall occur quarterly. The West Virginia State Lottery Commission may determine material misrepresentations from the independent evaluators reports warrant explanation or further action. Those are to be settled between the mobile wager licensee, experts or influencers, content providers and the West Virginia State Lottery Commission and the Attorney General’s Office. Those licensees who do meet the criteria for independent evaluator services – based on sports betting content, experts or influencers, and/or content partners definition – will have their independent evaluator fees supplemented by the state of West Virginia until such time they become financial capable to do so, as decided by the state of West Virginia.