After contract disputes shut it down in March, online sports betting is once more up and running In West Virginia. And yes, it’s FanDuel, the New Jersey sports betting market leader, who heads the pack.
FanDuel went online in the Mountaineering State via both its Android and iOS mobile apps on Monday this week.
The New Jersey sportsbook and sports fantasy standout is partnered with the Casino at the famed golf resort, the Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs. Along with online betting, FanDuel will also operate the land-based sportsbook at the Casino.
West Virginia gambling authorities Okayed online sports betting last year. However, it has been five months since the state’s first and only online sportsbook, BetLucky, shut up shop. This followed a contractual dispute between BetLucky’s owners, Delaware North, and its software provider Miomni Gaming.
West Virginia is the third US state in which FanDuel has opened sportsbooks – and it won’t be the last.
Together with long-time fellow sports fantasy giant DraftKings, it was one of the first to launch in New Jersey in mid-2018. Then followed Pennsylvania where it has just recently joined that state’s market front-runner Play SugarHouse. Now comes West Virginia.
FanDuel will next open in Iowa and Indiana
In the coming weeks, ahead of the NFL season lift-off, FanDuel is expected to open more sportsbooks in Iowa and Indiana.
Their Iowa sportsbooks are scheduled to be operational at the Diamond Jo Casinos at Northwood and Dubuque by September 4.
That’s just a day before the NFL’s 100th season begins at Soldier Field on Thursday, September 5. The NFL’s oldest Clubs, the Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers, have been given the honor of kicking it off.
In Indiana, FanDuel sportsbooks will be located at the Blue Chip Casino Hotel in Michigan City and at Belterra Casino in Florence.
Michigan City will be up and running on the day of the Soldier Field kick-off. Belterra, on the other hand, is only scheduled to go live five days later.
FanDuel’s new sportsbooks will all use the same software platform that has made it so successful in New Jersey.
In the meantime, reports are circulating that DraftKings, William Hill and PointsBet will be next to enter West Virginia.