The Oregon Lottery is planning to launch a sports betting app in time for the NFL season. What do we know about it so far? Here’s a quick rundown.
1. Sports betting launch will take probably take place in September
The Oregon Lottery has not announced a formal launch date for legal sports betting in the state. But it has said that it hopes to be live for the first Sunday of the NFL sesason – Sept. 8.
Will you be able to bet before, on or after that date? We probably won’t know until closer to that time. But you could be betting legally in Oregon in less than a month.
2. You will only be able to bet online in Oregon to start
You will only have one legal option in Oregon this fall: the Oregon Lottery sports betting app.
Eventually, there could be ways to be in person, via both kiosks at lottery retailers and at tribal casinos.
The lottery has said that betting in person is in the works, but will not happen at launch; 2020 is a more realistic timeline for that to happen.
Tribal casinos will be able to offer sports betting under their compacts, but no tribe that operates a casino in the state has publicly announced any plans for a sportsbook, either in their facilities or online.
3. The Oregon sportsbook app is called ‘Scoreboard’
The lottery is eschewing the “sportsbook” terminology for its app, calling it the Oregon Lottery Scoreboard.
More than a decade ago, Oregon had a limited form of sports betting called Sports Action, where you could bet on the outcomes of multiple NFL games. If that name comes back into use, it may just be as a separate or related product.
4. You won’t be able to bet on college football and other college sports
Oregon is not allowing betting on any college sports at launch. Lottery revenue is tied to higher education in the state, and the lottery wants to avoid any weirdness there, at least for now.
That means no betting on college football, including the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers. You also won’t be able to bet on March Madness on Scoreboard.
Will that change eventually? The lottery hasn’t ruled out allowing college sports betting down the road.
