West Virginia Sports Betting Mobile Shutdown Source Detected

Summary: The mobile sports betting option in West Virginia has been down for a few weeks and now it seems the details as to why the shutdown occurred have been revealed.

The state of West Virginia was one of the first to authorize sports betting, including mobile options. The state has seen great success and players were happy to have a mobile option via BetLucky WV. But, earlier this month, the site went offline. It was unclear as to why operations have stopped. The Wheeling Island facility and Mardi Gras were shut down as well regarding sports betting.

Reportedly, the issue was a third-party contract dispute. Now, it seems the full details as to what is going on have been revealed.

Disagreement

According to sources, the issues stems from a disagreement between the platform provider and a vendor. Miomni is the supplier of sports betting operations for Delaware North, the operator of the online option and two casino venues. The vendor remained a mystery until it was uncovered that Entergaming is at the other end of the dispute.

Reportedly, E. Brian Hansberry, the Delaware North President, has provided the latest details. On March 19th, he contacted West Virginia Lottery director John Myers to update the issue. According to Hansberry, Entergaming stopped their services to Miomni in February. The stoppage was due to improper usage.

However, Miomni says they had acquired all rights to operate the platform and they will not be making additional payments as they have been requested to do. The stalemate between the two is why the sports betting operations are not currently working in Delaware North facilities. It seems that each side is not ready to concede so the shutdown will most likely continue on for some time.

Hansberry also stated that Miomni did not let Delaware North know about the service interruption. They also did not state to the company that they were reliant on the platform of Entergaming. This is a big deal as Miomni was contractually required to do so.

Loss of Revenues

Because of the shutdown, West Virginia has experienced a loss in sports betting revenues. For the week of March 10th, the total handle dropped down below the $3 million mark. This was the first time that this has happened since December. The Delaware North properties are paying out open bets and not taking any new wagers.

The timing of the shutdown is particularly negative due to the March Madness NCAA tournament series taking place right now. Next to the Super Bowl, March Madness should be a huge supplier of revenues for every state offering sports betting. Because Delaware North is shut down, they will not be able to reap the benefits of the college basketball event.

For now, there is no end in sight as to what will happen between Entergaming and Miomni. Hopefully, the issue will be straightened out and players will be able to enjoy betting once again soon. However, Delaware North is not happy with their partner right now so it would not be surprising to see action taken by the casino owner and changes made as to who they work with regarding sports betting in the future.

Rebecca Kont
Rebecca Kont

Rebecca lives in Las Vegas and after completing her degree at Reynolds Journalism school joined the USGS team to pursue her journalism dreams.