Nearly half a year after Delaware North’s BetLucky app debacle, online sports betting has finally found its way back to West Virginia. Thanks to its partnership with The Greenbrier Resort, sports betting and daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel has rolled outs its mobile sports betting app in the state. This is a huge step forward for the state’s sports betting sector and the company itself as it continues with its expansion bid. The launch happens to the quite important for the company since it is the very first time that the sportsbook app is using proprietary technology that allows gamblers to bet from virtually anywhere in West Virginia.
“FanDuel Group developed its own account and wallet technology in-house that is the backbone of the new operating system on the FanDuel Sportsbook app in West Virginia. Sportsbook now connects to FanDuel’s popular fantasy sports app, so customers can use fantasy sports and sportsbook winnings interchangeably,” FanDuel revealed in a recent press release.
This technology will be vital to the success and overall longevity of the company’s mobile gaming platform in the state. The sports betting app is now available to both Android and iOS users. As mentioned earlier, it is the first one to be launched in West Virginia since March when the BetLucky app was shut down permanently due to a dispute between a third-party technology provider and Miomni, BetLucky’s sports betting partner.
Being the first one to launch, the FanDuel sports betting app is set to make quite the impact especially considering that it comes just a few days before the start of college football. Sports betting in the state will definitely be boosted significantly thanks to the presence of mobile sports betting.
FanDuel’s Battle with DraftKings
Unsurprisingly, FanDuel’s monopoly over the mobile betting market in West Virginia will be short-lived since DraftKings, its biggest competitor, is also on the verge of launching a similar offering in the state. Turf wars between the two companies have been going on for years and some have even ended up in federal lawsuits. DraftKings’s plans for a mobile betting offering are to be facilitated by a partnership with Hollywood Casino in Charles Town and the gaming product could go live as early as August 31 when the new football season begins.
Both companies have enjoyed a lot of success including in New Jersey where they are the top earners in the sports betting space. Their huge daily fantasy sports users bases helped propel their dominance and this is probably set to be the case in West Virginia.
