Oregon Online Sports Betting May Get Delayed Start

Posted on: August 17, 2019, 07:32h. 

Last updated on: August 18, 2019, 10:06h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

The Oregon Lottery may miss the planned kick-off date for legal digital sports betting — the start of the pro football season — which falls on Sept. 5, according to The Oregonian.

Lottery officials are now testing the platform, the newspaper said, to ensure it works effectively. They are also testing the lottery’s ability to support customers who will use the sports book.

For now, the lottery must confirm all is okay. Additional security testing will follow.

The testing will drive our launch date, as opposed to cutting corners to hit the first kickoff,” an unnamed source told The Oregonian.

Once it begins — likely one to three weeks later than expected — it will be known as the “Oregon Lottery Scoreboard.” It will offer betting on pro sports.

Beyond the NFL, it includes MLB, NBA, NHL, pro soccer, tennis, mixed martial arts, auto racing and other athletics. College games, such as those in the Pac 12, are not included — at least for now.

Betting Options

Betting options will include parlay, single-game wagers, and live in-game betting, the newspaper reported. Among the rules, participants must be at least 21 and have a Social Security card.

Bettors must be in Oregon, but not located on tribal lands.

Participants can use a mobile app or website to set up their account. That will let them deposit money with which to bet, as winnings go into their account.

The Oregon Lottery had planned to launch the “Scoreboard” app before early September. The lottery partnered with SBTech, a business-to-business provider of turnkey sports betting platforms.

Between 2015 and 2017, 58 percent of the funds from the Oregon Lottery went to public education. Job creation accounted for 26 percent, while one percent of the lottery money went toward helping those with problem gambling.

There was controversy around the state’s deal with SBTech. It stems from concerns that mobile sports wagering will be made available prior to an introduction of a comparable offer in brick-and-mortar locations, such as bars and restaurants.

Proprietors of those venues in Oregon believe that if mobile betting arrives first, bettors will not be compelled to wager at their properties.

The other companies involved in the bidding were Scientific Games and Playtech BGT Sports. In March, just days after learning that the Oregon Lottery intended to award the deal to SBTech, Scientific Games’ law firm, Perkins Coie, protested that decision. Among other allegations, Scientific Games claims state officials awarded the contract to SBTech while still conducting a background check into the company.

Sports Action Lottery Game Curtailed

In 2018, the US Supreme Court struck down a nationwide ban on betting on college and professional games.

Oregon had allowed bets on NFL games in its Sports Action lottery game between 1989 and 2007. Oregon was one of four states given the chance to grandfather in sports betting after the passage of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.

In 2007, the Oregon Lottery eliminated the Sports Action games in part due to pressure from the NCAA. But during the fiscal year that ended in 2007, Sports Action generated $14 million in revenue, the Statesman Journal reported.

Commercial casinos are prohibited in Oregon. The state has several tribal gaming venues.