The status of sports betting has been up in the air in West Virginia for quite some time, but it appears that things are starting to shake out. Earlier this week, the first-ever sports betting app was launched by Greenbrier Resort, and another one was set to launch on Wednesday afternoon.
This is an exciting time for sports betting fans in West Virginia, as they have been waiting for almost 18 months to launch mobile sports betting after it became legalized in the state.
West Virginia was the fifth state in the United States to legalize sports betting when it did so in March of 2018. Several other states have been able to both legalize and get things up and running in a much shorter amount of time, but there were several hiccups that caused things to be delayed in West Virginia.
They were also just the third state to legalize online sports betting, but that hasn’t taken shape until this week. Fans were hoping that sports betting would launch in time to place bets on college football and the NFL, and it appears that they have gotten their wish.
Larger Exposure
Even though retail sportsbooks have been around for more than a year in the state, not everyone has the ability to travel to these casinos. The introduction of mobile sports betting in West Virginia will give a whole new group of customers the opportunity to place bets on sports.
There was previously a sports betting app in the state of West Virginia, but it didn’t last too long on the market. BetLucky, which was owned and operated by Delaware North, made a brief debut in the state earlier this year, but it had to be pulled due to some contract disputes. The app did bring in more than $360,000 during February, which was far and away better than most retail sportsbooks were doing.
Getting Started
The Greenbrier Resort was the first one to launch a sportsbook app this week, unveiling FanDuel Sportsbook early on Monday morning. FanDuel has been making a ton of money in the state of New Jersey, and the company announced that this app would operate in the same way.
There are several different deposit and cash-out methods on the app, but customers can also access in-person tellers at the Resort for easier money transfers. FanDuel is known for being one of the leaders in daily fantasy sports, but their sportsbook apps in Pennsylvania and West Virginia have gotten rave reviews.
FanDuel might have been the first company to make their mark in West Virginia, but they were quickly joined by their top competitor, DraftKings. The DraftKings app appeared to be ready for use earlier in the week, but they wanted to wait a few days and not try and fight FanDuel for exposure.
There is a big enough market in the state that both companies and both apps will be able to survive. The DraftKings app has exclusive technology that ensures that someone is physically in the state of West Virginia when making a bet.