This story has been updated.
The online sports betting trail to Oregon is nearing its end. And it appears the state’s first mobile option will soon go live in the Northwest.
According to John Canzano of The Oregonian, the Oregon Lottery has completed testing its Scoreboard online sports betting app and now only waits approval on funding options.
As such, Scoreboard could have hit the market on Oct. 7, but that day came and went without a launch.
Oregon Lottery has finished testing its sports wagering product and is waiting on final approval from banking partners (MC, Visa, etc.) before official launch.
New target to be live is Oct. 7 I’m told.
— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) September 26, 2019
The lottery confirmed to Legal Sports Report that a launch likely would not happen on Oct. 7 but could come the following week.
Long wait soon over for Oregon sports betting
In February, Oregon Lottery spokesman Matthew Shelby told Legal Sports Report that the lottery was aiming to launch an online solution in time for the first week of the NFL season.
After selecting SBTech as its tech provider the following month, it seemed Oregon sports betting was well on its way to reality.
Alas, opening kickoff came and went. The lottery kept the Scoreboard app in the lab, displaying caution by not rushing the product to market. During a September meeting of the Oregon State Lottery Commission, the sports betting team targeted a late-September to mid-October launch.
Shelby confirmed to LSR that Scoreboard is going through finishing touches:
“We’re in the home stretch. Once everything is ready, we will do one final test of the system in the live environment. Hoping to be ready in a couple weeks.”
Scoreboard app expands OR sports betting
The state’s first online sportsbook will accept wagers on professional events only — a blow to the rabid Pac-12 fans who hoped to bet on heated rivalries like the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State or the I-5 rivalry between Oregon and Washington.
Regardless, the Scoreboard app will feature an array of wagering options. But it won’t be the only horse in town.
A tribal casino on the state’s coast, Chinook Winds Casino Resort, opened the doors to Oregon’s first retail sportsbook in August.
Despite not becoming the mold-breaker in the Northwest, the Oregon Lottery does have the upper hand in at least one area:
The Scoreboard app will stand as the only online sportsbook in the state, so long as Oregon tribes do not revisit compact agreements to receive the authority to roll out mobile solutions of their own.