West Virginia Mobile Betting Delayed Further, NFL Season Becomes New Timeline

• Mobile sports betting in WV launched days before the new year but lasted less than 3 weeks.
• The state has received nearly $100,000 in tax contributions since the September sports betting launch.
• Only three of the five WV sportsbooks are actively accepting wagers.

CHARLESTON, W.V. – Problems continue in the West Virginia gambling industry, as the mobile sports betting platform is still out of operation.

Lottery officials believed the sportsbooks would be able to (re)launch their platforms around the MLB All-Star Weekend; however, the books have since pushed back their expected date.

“The dates we’re hearing now are probably in the fall. Anyone we talk to now is probably saying football season,” said John Myers, the WV Lottery Director.

Problems originally stemmed when Delaware North, the owner of both Wheeling Island Casino and Mardi Gras Casino, found out their wagering platform supplier, Moimni Gaming, was within a technology contract dispute.

This caused these two mobile West Virginia sportsbooks to cease operations, leaving the state without an active mobile betting platform since March.

Delaware North ended up cutting ties and suing Miomni Gaming. Since then, they have been on the search for a new supplier to operate the sportsbooks.

According to Myers, they are starting the process from square-1 and this is the main cause for the extended delay.

“Everyone involved wants to make sure we proceed the right way,” said Myers. “The Lottery wants to see a successful launch as soon as possible.”

Hollywood Casino at Penn National is also in the process of bringing back mobile operations to West Virginia. Without having previously launched, Penn National has paired with DraftKings, as they both continue to finalize the app and prepare for football season.

In other news, all five sportsbooks successfully had their betting licensed renewed by the WV Lottery this week. All of them underwent independent auditors and paid their licensing fee to the state.

“We’re glad to see they’re all well enough to re-up for another year,” Myers said.

News tags: Delaware North | DraftKings | Hollywood Casino at Penn National | John Myers | Mardi Gras Casino | MLB All-Star Weekend | Moimni Gaming | West Virginia | Wheeling Island Casino | WV Lottery