Rejoice, Oregon: The Scoreboard Online Sports Betting App Is Now Live

When will you be able to bet on sports online in Oregon? Now.

The Oregon Lottery’s much-anticipated online sports betting platform, Scoreboard, launched Wed., Oct. 15.

Scoreboard was first expected to launch in early September but a thorough and strenuous testing and vetting process took longer to complete than lottery officials originally anticipated.

A rumored Oct. 7 launch was delayed while a number of payment providers visited Oregon to thoroughly inspect the Scoreboard process in order to approve their involvement.

Scoreboard’s debut was nearly held up a third time when the lottery’s website crashed on Tuesday, the day before the launch, but the issue was unrelated to the app and led to no further delay.

“Yesterday was spent mostly validating work already done,” said Matt Shelby, Oregon Lottery public information manager. “We took a pretty conservative approach to releasing the app, but it’s impossible to account for every variable.”

Oregon Lottery’s work is never done

Lottery employees weren’t able to hold much of a launch celebration since everyone’s focus had to switch into customer-support mode almost immediately in order to help newly registered Scoreboard bettors anxious to get started.

“Opening night was quite the night for Scoreboard,” Shelby said. “It was a bit like Black Friday at Best Buy. The process looks to be smoothing out [Thursday] morning.”

As of 7 a.m. Thursday morning, 2,300 players had registered for new Scoreboard accounts, 500 were logged on and deposits had reached $80,000. More than $15,000 had been wagered.

“Basketball is getting the greatest attention in this short period,” added Shelby, “with the Blazers and Golden State getting a lot of preseason action.”

Oregon is now the eighth state to offer legal online sports wagering and the very first on the West Coast.

Where to find Oregon Lottery Scoreboard

Scoreboard is available for desktop and laptops from the Oregon Lottery website.

Apps for mobile devices also are available. iPhone users can download the app from the Apple App Store, while Android users must download the app directly from the Oregon Lottery website.

Players can register for a Scoreboard account from any state, but in order to use the app, bettors must be located within the state of Oregon and off tribal-owned land.

The app supports single-game bets, parlays and in-game wagers on professional sporting events only. Scoreboard accepts no collegiate sports action wagers.

Oregon Lottery estimated the app would bring in a net profit of $37 million on $1.6 billion in sports betting during the first three years the app is in use.

The Oregon legislature decides where to direct lottery dollars and dedicated sports betting revenue to the state’s public employee retirement system, which is about $27 billion in debt.

Chinook Winds reaps the benefits of collegiate sports betting

In other Oregon legal sports betting news, Chinook Winds Casino Resort told KOIN 6 News that its retail sportsbook, opened August 27, is doing better than expected.

In the first full month of operations, the Lincoln City casino exceeded its own revenue projections by 10 percent and saw a 15 percent increase in overall gaming revenue.

Operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz, Chinook Winds accepts wagers on college sports, unlike the Oregon Lottery, and that’s proving to be a draw for bettors.

Nearly 80 percent of the casino’s first-month handle came from football wagering, according to a casino spokesperson.

However, although NFL bettors accounted for roughly 50 percent of the total handle, a healthy 30 percent chunk resulted from college football wagers.

A number of other Oregon confederated tribes are currently involved in tribal discussions on the possibility of opening sportsbooks of their own, including The Mill Casino in North Bend, and the Three Rivers casinos located in Coos Bay and Florence.