Jake Paul‘s microbetting app Betr is the latest operator to land a VA sports betting license.
The app received approval Friday, completing the process of taking over the Golden Nugget sports betting license. Golden Nugget’s sportsbook was shut down after DraftKings closed on an all-stock acquisition of GNOG last year.
A Betr spokesperson said the app would be live for legal sports betting in Virginia “soon” but did not have an exact date. Its second launch was expected to come this week as one of the first online Massachusetts sportsbooks, but the company will instead launch sometime in April.
Betr claimed the last available sports betting license in Virginia, according to a Virginia Lottery spokesperson. Another could open if a professional sports team moves to the state and partners with a sportsbook.
Betr to be ‘methodical’ about rollout
CEO Joey Levy took to Twitter to thank the Virginia Lottery and DraftKings for their work throughout the transition.
“We are excited to continue our gradual, methodical state-by-state rollout of real money sports wagering with a laser focus on validating our model of low-to-no (customer acquisition costs), strong user engagement, and community-driven vitality that is unlike any other operator in the space,” Levy said.
“The initial results from Ohio are promising in these respects and we are just scratching the surface of where we will ultimately be from product and media standpoints.”
Early details from Ohio revenue report
Betr launched shortly after Ohio sportsbooks in January. The company called it the fastest launch from a company’s founding to a fully licensed and regulated real-money sportsbook in US history.
It shared some statistics of its first month in Ohio, which it called a successful launch despite comparatively low results in January.
Betr took nearly $1.1 million bets, recorded $106,000 in revenue and handed out $95,000 in promos. That accounted for just 0.1% of online handle, 0.05% of online revenue and 0.03% of promotions, though, so there is plenty of room to grow.
“Excited to release meaningful improvements to our core user experience and begin establishing betting market product parity with incumbent operators over the coming months,” Levy said.
Launch topped internal goals
Betr topped its internal goals for users and revenue with the Ohio launch “despite no material paid advertising” and strong user conversion from organic channels.
The average bettor placed more than 25 bets, according to the company. More than 90% of users placed multiple bets, 56% bet at least 10 times and 13% bet at least 50 times.
