Will These Two W.V. Sportsbooks Finally Come Back In 2020?

• A contract dispute shut down two sportsbooks in West Virginia.
• Both casinos are in the process of looking for another sportsbook provider.
• It could be several more months until these sportsbooks can re-launch.

WHEELING, W. Va. – The Wheeling Island Casino and Mardi Gras Casino sportsbooks have been down since March of 2019 and show no signs of returning.

Contract Dispute

A company named Delaware North owns both the Wheeling Island Casino and the Mardi Gras Casino in West Virginia. Because of this, both casinos had the same sports betting provider when they first launched. For their casinos, Delaware North decided to partner with Mionmi Gaming to power their sportsbooks.

Mionmi Gaming also has a contract with a company named Entergaming. Entergaming provides Mionmi with its software and other tools necessary to operate sportsbooks.

But back in March of 2019, a contract dispute caused Mionmi to cease operations. As a result, both of the casinos owned by Delaware North cannot operate a sportsbook.

Although it has been nearly a year, both of the sportsbooks are still shut down and both are still paying out bets that were made before they closed last year.

Neither casino has re-launched a sports betting area because they are still in a contract with Mionmi Gaming. Delaware North is taking legal action to get out of its contract to provide sports betting in West Virginia again.

“We have notified the West Virginia Lottery Commission that Delaware North is taking steps to terminate its partnership with Miomni Gaming, our management services provider in West Virginia. Since March 6, Miomni’s contract dispute with third-party technology supplier Entergaming has resulted in our inability to accept new sports wagers at our Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras casino sports-betting operations as well as via the BetLucky.com mobile app,” said Wheeling Island officials in a statement.

Missing Big Events

This contract dispute caused both sportsbooks to shut down right before March Madness started. It is now 2020 and the Super Bowl 54 is set to take place in a month. It seems likely that both of these sportsbooks will remain shuttered during the biggest game of the year.

But Delaware North officials are working diligently to find an alternative option for their patrons.

“We continue to work toward enlisting a new technology partner for sports wagering in West Virginia and reopening the sportsbooks at our Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras casinos. We will make an announcement when that process is complete,” said Glen White from Delaware North.

But as they said in their previous statement, this process could still take several months to accomplish. It is possible that both sportsbooks will miss out on not only the Super Bowl but a second March Madness.

News tags: Delaware North | Entergaming | Glen White | March Madness | Mardi Gras Casino | Mionmi Gaming | Super Bowl | West Virginia | Wheeling Island Casino