Two West Virginia Sportsbooks Remain Closed For Start Of March Madness

• Two of West Virginia’s sportsbooks remain closed due to a contract dispute.
• March Madness is about to start and these sportsbooks are going to miss the bets.
• The contract dispute can last until the Sweet 16 or longer.

WHEELING, W.V. – March Madness is about to begin and two sportsbooks in West Virginia will remain closed until further notice due to a contract dispute.

Delaware North is the operators of two of the casinos in West Virginia. The casinos they operate are Wheeling Island and the Mardi Gras casinos. Delaware North has ceased operations at both of their physical sportsbooks as well as their shared online sportsbook at BetLucky.com.

Contract Issues

Delaware North has informed its customers that there has been a contract issue between Miomni Gaming, their sports betting platform provider, and an unnamed third-party technology provider. The contract dispute between the two companies has forced Delaware North to cease all legal sports betting operations in West Virginia until further notice.

West Virginia lottery director John Myers has said on Wednesday that Delaware North is working as a mediator between the two companies to resolve the issue quickly. Unfortunately, it seems that the contract issues will not be resolved soon.

“I know that they are talking. I can’t tell you they are talking calmly at this point,” said Myers.

One of the added layers of difficulties is that the three companies involved are in different countries. Delaware North is in New York, Miomni Gaming is in the United Kingdom, and the unnamed third-party provider is in Cyprus.

Missing Out On March Madness

As March Madness is set to start this week, the Mardi Gras and Wheeling Island casino sportsbooks are not going to be opened in the first rounds. Delaware North is hoping that the contract issues will be resolved by the time the Sweet 16 rolls around, but that seems to be unlikely. The two casinos cannot reopen their sportsbooks until further notice.

According to an American Gaming Association’s press release there will be over $8.5 billion wagered in March Madness. $4.6 billion will be wagered in brackets and $3.9 billion will be wagered at a sportsbook.

With so much money flying around for March Madness, the two West Virginian sportsbooks are missing out in the biggest sports betting event of the year. That will be a huge loss in revenue for both the casino and the state of West Virginia who collects a 10 percent tax on the sports betting revenue.

With the indefinite closing of these two sportsbooks, West Virginia sports betting will have to take their March Madness bets to other sportsbooks in the state or elsewhere. March Madness begins this week and there will be no action taken at the Mardi Gras or Wheeling Island sportsbooks.

News tags: March Madness | Mardi Gras Casino | West Virginia | West Virginia sports betting | Wheeling Island