Legislation
US – Oregon Lottery closing in on lottery kiosk sports betting
By Phil - 24 April 2019
The Oregon Lottery is hoping to launch sports betting in the state by autumn with SBtech the company being lined up to deliver it to the market.
Oregon Lottery spokesman Matthew Shelby said the company was ‘working internally through various options’ but had a ‘goal of rolling something out to Oregonians in time for the 2019 NFL season.’
It believes that the Oregon sports betting market could generate revenues of $120m at its full maturity.
The plan is to establish online sports betting over the summer. Mr. Shelby said: “Our initial offering will need to be mobile-based, leveraging the Oregon Lottery app.”
The agreement with SBTech is subject to approvals but is also believed to be subject of an appeal from one of the rival suppliers.
A vote to select a vendor was completed on March 13 with the Oregon Lottery’s RFP Team’s decision being approved by the lottery’s executive team on March 18.
The lottery said SBTech could provide a ‘turn-key, sports-betting platform and sportsbook for digital and on-property wagering.’
It added that SBTech is a ‘sports bet vendor, not a lottery vendor’ with expertise in ‘product design and focus on player experience.’
“With their innovative features and capabilities, OSL can compete with black market operators effectively with a solid go-to-market strategy and positioning itself very well at launch,” the lottery explained.
Per Farshad Allahdadi, Oregon Lottery’s Chief Gaming Officer, said: “We have about 3 million eligible players in Oregon, many of whom bet illegally now. Our challenge is to create a compelling product that can draw a portion of those illegal betters and attract a whole new group of customers.”
It won’t be the first time that sports betting options have been offered in Oregon. Back in 2007, the state had a game called Sports Action that let players bet on NFL games in 3-game parlay wagers.
The plan is for the lottery to allow betting at its physical lottery kiosks next year in restaurants and retailers that sell lottery games.
