Coming Soon To WV Sports Betting: DraftKings Sportsbook App

Written By Chris Imperiale on December 20, 2018
DraftKings Sportsbook in WV

DraftKings Sportsbook is coming to West Virginia.

DraftKings, the market leaders in revenue in New Jersey for online sports betting, has reached a licensing agreement with Penn National Gaming, the operator of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.

Pending regulatory approval, the agreement will allow DraftKings to operate an online sportsbook in West Virginia. It could be the state’s first legal online sports betting application. DraftKings had already applied for a provider license in the state.

Currently, you can wager on sports at three of the state’s five casinos. These include the Hollywood Casino, Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort and The Casino Club at The Greenbrier.

Bigger and better things in WV

West Virginia legalized sports gambling back in March, but had to be patient before actually getting the ball rolling. The federal ban was lifted in May, and in August the Hollywood Casino became the first legal sportsbook in the state to accept bets.

Now with this new deal in place, legal sports betting will reach new heights within the state.

“We are pleased to help welcome DraftKings to West Virginia,” said John Finamore, Sr. Vice President of Regional Operations for Penn National Gaming. “We believe the state will certainly benefit from DraftKings’ tremendous brand awareness and expertise in providing customers a quality online sports betting experience.”

The goal is that DraftKings can pick up right where they’ve left off in New Jersey. The digital sportsbook pulled in over $7 million in revenue in the month of November. That was nearly half of the total revenue made in the state for online gambling.

DraftKings expanding

Once up and running, West Virginia will be the second state where DraftKings’ legal online sports betting is available. It also has a retail sportsbook location at Resorts Atlantic City in New Jersey and the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in Mississippi.

The online book and mobile app should be very similar to the one in NJ based on all of its current success. According to a press release, DraftKings WV will include “live, in-game betting, the opportunity to wager on major and niche international and U.S. sports, as well as new features such as sportsbook pools for NFL, NBA and NHL.”

One of DraftKings’ closest competitors, FanDuel Sportsbook, actually has a retail location in the state at The Greenbrier. They don’t, however, have an online or mobile app as of yet. Being the first could be pivotal for DraftKings to sustain the momentum of its early accomplishments.

“We are thrilled to work with Penn National Gaming to bring our online sportsbook product to West Virginia,” said Matt Kalish, Chief Revenue Officer and co-founder of DraftKings. “We look forward to serving sports fans in the Mountain State and building on the immense success we have had in leading the New Jersey market. With over 90 percent of sports bettors returning to play after trying DraftKings Sportsbook, we are confident we can deliver on being the best place to play for West Virginia consumers.”

Only time will tell, but this licensing agreement with Penn National in West Virginia could end up solidifying DraftKings as the leader in legal online WV sports betting.

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Chris Imperiale

Chris Imperiale covers sports betting and the online casino industries. He has a journalism degree from Rutgers University and was formerly on staff at Bleacher Report.

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