Oregon Lottery launches new sports betting app
(Update: Sports betting launches; more details from Oregon Lottery)
Oregon Lottery Scoreboard, the state’s first and only legal online sports betting program, launched Wednesday, offering players myriad opportunities to wager on their favorite professional sports.
The Scoreboard mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices, and a desktop version is accessible from the Oregon Lottery website. While the iOS app is available in Apple’s App Store, Android users will download their app directly from the Oregon Lottery’s website.
This is the Oregon Lottery’s first entry into online sales and gameplay, with plans to add in-venue sports betting at select Oregon Lottery retail locations in 2020.
Upon online registration and verification, players may fund their accounts and set wagers on a variety of professional sports, including NFL, NBA, MLS, NWSL, MLB and even NASCAR.
Betting options cover a wide variety as well, including single-game wagers, parlay, live, in-game betting and more. Geolocation services ensure Oregon Lottery Scoreboard play occurs within state boundaries, and not on tribal lands.
“This is an exciting day for Lottery, as we launch a new game and a new sales channel, “noted Lottery Director Barry Pack. “This game allows Lottery to attract new players – increasing revenue for important state programs without relying on current players to play or wager more.”
In order to ensure the highest level of security, Lottery has set the automatic identification validation to the most stringent setting. Players who input incorrect or incomplete data may be required to validate identification through a manual process to establish an account.
This is the first venture the Oregon Lottery has taken into e-commerce. The Oregon Lottery previously had a sports betting game called, “Sports Action,” which ended in 2007.
A spokesman for the Oregon Lottery said now that the U.S. Supreme Court determined sports betting is legal, the lottery decided to improve its presence so that the new Scoreboard app appeals to a variety of sports fans.
“Rather than having a game like ‘Sports Action,’ that started and ended when the NFL started and ended, now we’ve got a true sports book with ‘Scoreboard’,” said spokesman Chuck Baumann.
“It offers NFL, NBA, major leagues, soccer, auto racing, cricket, darts. There are all sorts of things — all the games that you would find on (a) sports book.”
The Oregon Lottery is also making strides to better address gambling addiction, since it is possible for any lottery game to be played beyond its means.
The Oregon Lottery spokesman told NewsChannel 21 that since 1992, nearly $100 million has been directed toward gambling treatment in Oregon, which means problem gamblers can receive free treatment.
The Scoreboard will offer players the ability to set parameters and limits, like how much they want to bet and how much time they can spend playing the game.
“Oregon Lottery ‘Scoreboard’ is unique, in that players are going to go in and create an account, Baumann said. “This is the first time that we’ve had a lottery game that is not anonymous play.
“So, you’ll go in, create the account, your name, and say, ‘I’m going to fund my account and with my winnings.’ We’ll also be able to notice, and the players as well, how much they’ve been spending.”
The game will send email alerts to players, letting them know if they are at or beyond the limit they’ve set for themselves.
A high percentage of the lottery dollars are state-mandated on where funding will go. The goal is to use taxpayer dollars the way they are desired.
“Over the course of time, Oregon voters have voted to include public education as a beneficiary, state parks, watershed enhancements (and) most recently, veteran services and outdoor school,” Baumann said. “So Oregon voters are the ones that decide where lottery dollars go.”
As the pot of proceeds from the game continues to grow, it will allow more funding for those different sectors.
KTVZ and AP 2019
