West Virginia to Introduce Mobile Sports Betting Before Month's End

Director of West Virginia Lottery, John Myers, has confirmed that this state will see the launch of mobile sports wagering before the end of the month.

Speaking to portal, iGamingBusiness, Myers has revealed that two mobile apps in total have entered the final stage of testing. The launch date for both of these, should the tests prove successful, are expected be determined in the coming days.

A Long Overdue Launch

He has not given the names of the two providers in question…

…however, judging from previous reports, these could very well be apps by FanDuel, as they will be ing sportsbooks at Hollywood Casino in Charles Town and Greenbrier Resort respectively. The latter facility is owned by governor, Jim Justice.

Lottery and DraftKings have carried out tests together as early as May this year. However, even after proving successful, the planned roll-out soon after was postponed by the regulator due to concerns over servers’ physical locations

This was done in order to ensure compliance with the Federal Wire Act that has been causing problems for regulators in the US. Commenting on the delay, WV Lottery Director, Myers explained that “The Lottery wants to see a successful launch as soon as possible, but we must make sure that the citizens of West Virginia and our employees are not put at risk. We are working closely with the parties involved, however it will take time to build the system.”

Not an Entirely New Segment

What is surprising to many is that mobile wagering in West Virginia will not, in fact, be a totally new thing. Customers in this state have already been place wagers via this channel, since March 6th, using Delaware North’s BetLucky app which was operated with Miomni Gaming. However, that one went offline two months after the launch.

Initially, this was explained as a “service interruption,” however it resurfaced that it was actually an infringement dispute between Miomni and Enterg Software Solutions, a rival supplier, that led to this.

The saga unfurled with Delaware North terminating the contract with Miomni shortly after this. Their online and land-based sportsbooks have remained closed. The lawsuit against Miomni was launched in April and in it claimed that Enterg directly affected the shutdown with their interference and the app could be brought online.

BetLucky managed to generate the revenue of $670,443 from late December to the date of the shut-down.

A Strong Start to the Fiscal Year

WV is off to a good start to the 2020 fiscal year …

…as they reported a $704,475 in taxable revenue collected for five weeks leading to August 1st.

This is collected from player stakes worth $7.6 million. Hollywood Casino players made the biggest contribution on DraftKings operated sportsbook, while Mountaineer Casino is in second place with their William Hill sportsbook.

Source:

“West Virginia days from mobile sports betting launch”, igbnorthamerica.com, August 23, 2019.