Oregon Sports Betting App Should Launch This Month

While the Oregon Lottery estimated early on that its online sportsbook, Scoreboard, would be up and running in time for the 2019 NFL opening kickoff, things didn’t quite work out that way. 

Now, the app should be live by the middle of the season.

Here comes Oregon Lottery Scoreboard

Taking extra time to rigorously test the app and ensure a safe, secure product that works seamlessly throughout was more important than meeting an arbitrary deadline, said Matt Shelby, Oregon Lottery’s public information manager.

Scoreboard’s release date is now expected to occur in the middle of October.

“We’re wrapping things up with payment providers now,” Shelby said last week. “They have to come in and look at our system to approve their involvement. 

“So the timeline is a bit beyond our control at the moment but the sooner we can get those approvals, the sooner we can launch.”

Players can use Scoreboard from the lottery’s website as well as their mobile devices. Geofencing will ensure that bettors are located within the state of Oregon and off tribal lands before wagers can be placed. 

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

Timeline for Oregon sports betting rollout

The lottery’s presentation to the Oregon Lottery Commission on May 31, 2019, laid out a tentative timeline for its three-phase sports betting rollout. Scoreboard, developed in partnership with sports betting platform supplier SBTech, is the first phase. 

Self-service sports betting kiosks is the second phase. The third phase involves a lottery version of sports betting similar to the Sports Action parlay game the lottery offered from 1989 to the mid-2000s.

The lottery told the commission that it had begun Scoreboard sponsorship discussions with Oregon’s professional sports franchises, including:

• The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers
• Portland Thorns FC of the NWSL
• Portland Timbers of MLS
• Portland Winterhawks of the WHA

The lottery’s goals for sponsorship will be to integrate “high-impact, high-profile, in-arena activations” with the fan base for each team. 

“We absolutely are interested in working with our professional sports franchises in Oregon,” Shelby said. “We have long-term sponsorships with them right now and, looking forward, we are excited about the potential opportunities that the Scoreboard game presents. 

“Exactly what that will look like, I couldn’t tell you, but we’re going to have continued conversations with those organizations to see if we can make something work.”

Kiosks are coming to Oregon

Second phase self-service kiosks will offer all sports betting options, although in-game wagering may not be practical. Shelby projected an early 2020 date for the beta version kiosk release.

“We anticipate rolling out a small number of kiosks in a pilot project to determine where they’re going to get the most use, how much maintenance they’ll need, who is prepared to support a kiosk in their establishment,” Shelby said. 

“The team that will develop the retail kiosk strategy is largely working on the app right now and that’s where they’re focused. As soon as we launch the app, their attention will very quickly turn to fleshing out what that kiosk strategy will look like.”

Sports Action returns

Once the kiosks are placed, the lottery will turn its attention to phase three, a sports wagering game that will be available through the lottery network, similar to the former Sports Action parlay game.

“We will be able to use our current lottery system to sell tickets for a parlay-style game,” Shelby said. “That’s being looked at now but we will have to do a system upgrade and I would say that’s at least a year out.”