The Oregon Lottery’s official sports betting app — the Scoreboard — has indicated that more than $500,000 in bets have registered since it launched on October 16.
After experiencing several delays to its launch, fans did not waste any time in punching in their wagers when it finally did go online. The Oregon Lottery announced in a tweet that more than 16,500 people have already signed up for an account.
This is actually the very first time that those residing on the West Coast can place a legal sports bet on a mobile device.
The mobile sports betting launch in Oregon was expected to go online at the end of August or at the beginning of September. However, the initial testing of the product did not go as well it developers had hoped, and changes had to be made before it was released to the public.
Even then, some users reported experiencing issues when trying to access the app after initially downloading it. There were complaints that the registration process had hitches. Many users did not receive an account activation email after signing up for an account. The huge demand for the app download also slowed down the official Oregon Lottery website after the launch. However, those issues have since been resolved.
The Oregon Lottery initially planned to release Scoreboard in time for the kickoff of the National Football League’s season but only managed to get it out during week seven. A substantial portion of the bets made on the mobile app in its first week was on pro football games.
There are many different sports Oregonians could place their bets on with the Scoreboard app, but college sports markets are not yet available through the mobile offering. The Oregon Lottery’s explained that it only offered pro sports betting because it was “easier sell to the border audience”. Lottery officials have said this might change at some point next year.
Oregon actually has only one pro sports team — the Portland Trail Blazers which plays in the National Basketball Association. However, the state has two big-time college sports teams, the Oregon State Beavers and the Oregon Ducks. Officials are well aware that there would be a substantial demand for college sports betting.
