According to the Oregon Lottery, it could generate more than $100 million from legal sports betting. The state has already launched a mobile app that can be downloaded from the App Store. At present, neither online lottery ticket sales nor sports betting options are available on the app, although the lottery is certainly not ruling out these options in the near future. Lottery officials told the gambling media that they would have a better idea of their sports betting plans near the end of this year.
The plans are to integrate sports betting onto the new mobile lottery platform and a lottery official said that in the first year, this move could generate as much as $35.5 million for the commission. By the third year, these figures could reach $61.1 million, and future years could see the number stabilize to between $100 – $120 million from sports betting.
“Overall we see sports betting as an opportunity to increase our player base and substantially grow our revenue,” said the public information manager for the Oregon Lottery, Matt Shelby.
Since Oregon was one of four states to be grandfathered into legal sports betting with the passing of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, it does not require legislative authorization to offer sports betting if it so wishes. It once ran a sports betting lottery game called Sports Action but eventually bowed to pressure from the NCAA and removed the game from its portfolio.
Shelby said that while the new lottery app is currently available at the App store, it will also be offered on the Google Play store from around early November.
Matt Shelby said that the lottery plans to add functionality to the new app over time, including the ability to buy jackpot games such as Powerball and Mega Millions.
At the moment, the app allows players to verify their winnings for certain games such as scratch offs and draw games. It will also publish responsible gambling tips and retailer locations for lottery purchases across the state.
