SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
FanDuel, DraftKings Prepping for West Virginia Mobile Launch
Six months after West Virginia‘s first run at mobile sports betting went dark, bettors will have two new options to try, likely by the end of the month. A source confirmed to Sports Handle Thursday that FanDuel will launch its mobile app, and multiple media reports indicate that DraftKings will do the same.
The FanDuel app will be tied to the company’s The Greenbrier physical sportsbook while DraftKings partners with the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town. In West Virginia, mobile books are required to be tethered to a bricks-and-mortar operation.
Full story here.
A Tribute To My Colleague And Friend, Bob Mann
Robert H. Mann lived for 31 years in Las Vegas, and afforded me the past 18 months to soak up a few liters of the vast knowledge he collected from nearly half a lifetime spent as a journalist and businessman in “Sin City.”
Bob passed away of a heart attack at age 68 on Monday, not without touching many lives and making an indelible impression on this writer, in particular. Neither our friendship or working relationship lasted long enough. I enjoyed both equally.
A longtime Gaming Today columnist and entrepreneur in the parlay card printing business, a mutual friend introduced me to Bob in February 2018 about potentially contributing to Sports Handle. In our second exchange, he wrote, “I like having an editor to help make the story better!”
Full story here.
First Oregon Sportsbook Set To Open Aug. 27 At Oceanfront Casino Chinook Winds
The first legal sportsbook on the West Coast is set to open the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 27 at the Chinook Winds Casino Resort, a Pacific Ocean-front property in Lincoln City, about 85 miles southwest of Portland.
The lounge will operate in partnership with the Las Vegas Dissemination Company (LVDC), which provides the hardware, back-end technology and software support, and risk-management experience.
“The lounge will open with Nevada-style sports wagering, opening with three teller terminals and one self-serve kiosk,” Jay Vaccaro, Director of Sales, told US Bets on Tuesday. “It will be retail betting. Right now the [tribal-state] compact only allows” for brick-and-mortar sports wagering, Vaccaro said.
Full story here.
Q&A: PointsBet Sportsbook’s Seth Young On US Growth, What’s Unique And What’s Better
If you didn’t know about PointsBet Sportsbook last year, you probably do now.
Headquartered in Australia, the sportsbook launched only seven months ago in New Jersey in conjunction with the Meadowlands Racetrack, and since has forged partnerships to several more newly legal U.S. jurisdictions, keeping pace with or outstripping some more established U.S. brands, at least in terms of footprint.
Currently, PointsBet is prepping to launch a retail sportsbook (and later online) in Iowa, plus major regional casino operator Penn National Gaming hooked up with the bookmaker as part of an expansive access agreement that (probably) will put PointsBet in several states expected to legalize in the not-too-distant future, such as Ohio.
Full story here.
Pete Rose Should Place The First Legal Sports Bet In Cincinnati, If Ohio Legalizes
The proliferation of legal sports betting across the country, coupled with Major League Baseball’s embrace of the new revenue-generating opportunity, has only bolstered calls for Pete Rose to have a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The chorus of support for Rose shows no signs of abating.
The all-time leader in hits remains one of the most popular baseball players in America, despite last playing more than three decades ago. One could argue that his lifetime ban from the sport for gambling on games when he was a player and a coach has made him even more famous than he would have been had he not. Gambling on the sport when he could influence the outcome of games was the cardinal sin, and in 1991 he became “permanently ineligible” for induction into the HoF. The never-ending saga of whether or not Major League Baseball should lift the ban has kept Rose’s name in the media. His 4,256 hits, a record that may never be broken, is the main reason why many say his situation is a travesty.
Full story here.
No Mobile, But Mississippi’s First Year Of Sports Betting Has Been ‘Great’
With the 12th month of sports betting revenue in Mississippi now on the books, Allen Godfrey isn’t quite ready to kick back and take a breather, but he’s pretty pleased.
The Executive Director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, Godfrey and his staff made Mississippi the third state to launch legal sports betting last year, less than two months after the May 14, 2018 fall of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Only Delaware and New Jersey beat the Magnolia State to the punch.
Full story here.
