Another operator of sports betting apps is just weeks away from launching in Virginia.
Virginia sports betting currently involves 15 online sportsbooks. But, on Wednesday, the state lottery board heard that Betr, the Jake Paul-backed sports-betting app, is expected to launch in Virginia in the next couple of weeks.
The Virginia Lottery Board approved Miami-based Betr's mobile sports betting license in March, putting the commonwealth in line to become the third state in which the bookmaker is live after Massachusetts and Ohio.
Coming soon... to the commonwealth
Betr recently announced a $35-million funding round, noting at the time that it is licensed in Virginia and planned to launch soon. The gaming and media firm aims to expand to even more states as well, such as Indiana.
“In the background, we've been securing market access in several additional jurisdictions, and we'll be announcing those when we're ready,” Betr co-founder and CEO Joey Levy told Covers in an interview near the end of June.
Levy confirmed Thursday via text message that Betr plans on launching in Virginia "in the coming weeks."
The Big Three
Betr’s entry into the Old Dominion could help spice up the state’s legal sports betting scene, which is already dominated by BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
A presentation given to the Virginia Lottery Board on Wednesday showed FanDuel with a 41.57% market share in the state from January to May of this year, followed by DraftKings with 26.4% of the market and BetMGM with 13.46%.
While Betr has yet to secure a big chunk of handle or revenue in Ohio or Massachusetts, Levy says they are cost-effectively making progress. And the bookmaker, which began focused on microbetting, such as taking action on the outcome of the next pitch in baseball or drive in football, is adding more traditional sports betting markets to its app.
Additional offerings will include “pre-match and in-play core markets, parlays, same game parlays, futures, props, and other bet types, along with 20+ additional sports,” the company said in June. Levy said some “core markets” have already been added to the Betr app, but it won’t be until the first half of 2024 that the full slate of offerings is available.
“There have been no signs that we're slowing down,” Levy said. “If anything, we're only improving. For example, in Massachusetts, our customer acquisition metrics are more advanced than they were in Ohio at this time.”
